Poland

Unemployment insurance should serve as a financial cushion when someone unexpectedly loses their job, rather than as a system that encourages people to remain outside the labor market at others’ expense. Yet, Lithuania spends around five times more of its GDP on unemployment-related benefits than Poland, while its unemployment rate is more than twice as high. Poland’s experience shows how much labor-market rules and incentives can matter.

Italy’s economic decline was not caused by a single crisis or one disastrous policy decision. Rather, it has been a gradual deterioration spanning decades. This is the picture that emerges from the data: weaker growth, lower productivity, an ageing population, and mounting problems with public finances.

Poland can become one of the best places to live in the world. But it will not get there through a state that constantly regulates more, owns more, and spends more. There are better recipes for development than those presented at the recent political gathering organized around former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

In 2026, Poland’s private sector will spend the equivalent of 229 days generating the resources needed to finance public expenditure, leaving only 136 days for private consumption, investment, and development.

Liberalism in Poland is losing its importance in favor of radical, extreme movements, especially on the right, which divide society, increase polarization, and whose views are based on hatred - towards social groups, other nationalities, state and European institutions, as well as towards specific politicians.

Technological development reaches into every area of life. Too often we view it only through the lens of information technology or AI; yet, the greatest revolution of modern times was the technological advancement of medicine and agriculture, which extended human life and enabled a spectacular growth of the global population.

Art as a tool for understanding the world. Collaboration and community as a response to the tensions that affect us all. I am looking forward to the 25th anniversary edition of the Fotofestiwal in Lodz, Poland.

The study commissioned by the Civil Development Forum (FOR) was conducted by Opinia24 between 17 and 21 March 2025 on a sample of 1,000 respondents. The sample was representative of the adult population of Poland in terms of gender, age, education and place of residence (rural areas and cities of different sizes), as well as voting preferences expressed in the 15 October 2023 election. 

In 2024, alcohol consumption per capita in Poland was the lowest (8.77 litres of pure alcohol) since 2005, and since 2021 there has been an uninterrupted downward trend in alcohol consumption. We drink about 10% less than in 2019 or 2021. Given that consumption is declining naturally, it does not seem that additional regulations and restrictions are needed.

In early August 2025, the Ministry of Climate and Environment presented a draft act on extended producer responsibility (EPR). The draft raises serious concerns. The Ministry claims that the current system “does not deliver satisfactory effectiveness”. Meanwhile, in 2023 Poland’s packaging waste recycling rate was higher than the EU average.