Social Structure in Poland: POLPAN 1993

Description of the current state of social structure and its change during the post-communist transformation.

Main topics of the study are:
1. Work and life situation
2. Hired work
3. Independent work
4. Additional work
5. Income, opinions on employment
6. Sources of conflicts
7. Chances of success in life
8. Opinions about income
9. Opinions about society
10. Privatization and the market
11. Status evaluation and views on social issues
12. Friends
13. Household
14. Education and occupational training
15. Political organizations and political activity
16. Poland’s situation over time

1. Work and life situation: Employed since 1988; currently working; worked on farm since 1988; number of jobs since 1988; jobs quitted since 1988; first to eighth job after 1988: employment status, polish SKZ occupational classification, beginning of first job (year/month), working hours per week, respondent still working in this job, respondent stopped working (year/month), reason of job termination, another job later; summarizing employment status first to fifth job; respondent finds no suitable job; job-seeking since 1988; periods of job seeking: start of first to third period of job-seeking (year/month), finish of first to third period of job-seeking (year/month), reason for stopping job-seeking; currently seeking job; ways of getting a job: employment office, job advertisements, applying in companies, family and friends, start own business; job seeking (number of hours); respondent is handicapped through unemployment; receiving unemployment benefit; housework as main activity; housework started (year/month); before housework as main occupation: respondent had full-time job, employment status; public or private firm; polish SKZ occupational classification; willingness to change housework for a job; main activity.

2. Hired work: Supervisory position; number of subordinates; level of supervising; expecting fulfilment of order or initiative from subordinates; position of respondents’ supervisor; extent of being supervised; leadership of supervisor; respondent agrees/disagrees with supervisor issues of work; possibility to use office phone for private purposes/to leave workplace for 30 minutes/ to settle own matters at work/to leave workplace for over an hour; industry classification of company; size of enterprise (employees working in firm); employment started at current firm (year/month); workplace: ownership changed, firm entirely privatized, partially privatized, transformed into state treasury company; opinion about privatization changes; respondent prefers change of ownership, kind of ownership change, workplace: changes in organizational structure, production profile, assignments to positions, work organization, equipment, level of employment; opinion about changes in workplace; wish for other changes; most important change; strike in past 5 years; assessment of job security; reason for possible job loss; chance to find new job; preference for less secure and better paid job; possibility to start own business with someone else; wish to start own business if receiving inheritance (100 million zlotys; 500 million zlotys); amount respondent would devote for establishing firm.

3. Independent work: Employing non-family members; number of employed non-family members; supervising two or more people; expecting fulfilment of order or initiative from subordinates; farming or other activities; description of activities; activity on or outside the farm is better for future; annual income from farm; size of farm (hectares); arable farmland; non-arable farmland; income outside the farm; ownership of farm; other partners: someone from family, other persons; foreign firm, polish firm; farm equipment: delivery van, tractor, electric motor; contract to sell agricultural products from farm; products sold by contract; farm: market orientation; people with similar activity are confronted with obstacles or assistance; pressure from competitors, profits and losses depend on competition.

4. Additional work: First additional job polish SKZ occupational classification; second additional job polish SKZ occupational classification; additional job: respondent has supervisor, degree of own initiative, leadership of supervisor, respondent has supervisory position, number of subordinates.

5. Income, opinions on employment: Average wage income per month; opinion to protection against unemployment for people with financial difficulties/contributed to transition process/not able to find work; opinion about success in job search: connections vs. qualifications, qualifications vs. cleverness, member of old nomenclatura vs. non-nomenclatura, people not connected to politics vs. former members of Solidarity, one should consider qualifications or material situation of newly hired employees.

6. Sources of conflicts: Sources of conflicts: rich and poor, manual and non-manual workers, manager and employees, urban and rural people, believers and nonbelievers, those in power and others, firm owners and employees.

7. Chances of success in life: Institutions better in 1993 than 1988; officially concerns: assessment of institutions dealing with citizen concerns, respondent settled own concern in last two years, type of concern respondent settled, concern was dealt successfully, concern solved with written complaint, concern solved through connections, concern solved through corruption; criteria for achieving success in life: ambition, networks, hard work, political connections, coming from a rich family, good education, luck, inherited ability and talent.

8. Opinions about income: Legal limit on highest income; assessment of highest income one should make; assessment of highest income; just tax for highest incomes; just tax for income (different income groups); assessment of just minimum salary; changes in Poland go in right direction; changes in Poland are too low/fast; assessment of income of different occupational groups: medical doctor in state hospital, owner of small shop, manager of large enterprise, skilled worker, secretary in state firm, secretary in private firm, bus driver, unskilled worker, cabinet minister, owner of large factory, shop assistant; assessment of just income of different occupational groups: medical doctor in state hospital, owner of small shop, manager of large enterprise, skilled worker, secretary in state firm, secretary in private firm, bus driver, unskilled worker, cabinet minister, owner of large factory, shop assistant.

9. Opinions about society: Opinion about relationship between authorities and society; opinion about former socialist system; evaluation of changes in last 4 years; assessment of living conditions (5 years ago/present); assessment of living conditions (present/ in 5 years; assessment of consequences of changes in society for own life; changes helped to fulfil plans; changes precluded respondent to fulfil plans.

10. Privatization and the market: Opinion about privatization of profitable state enterprises, of unprofitable state enterprise; reasons for not privatizing unprofitable state enterprises; opinion about different forms of privatizing: selling stocks to employees, dividing shares among citizens, selling stocks on free capital market; opinion about restrictions on privatization; opinion about restrictions on privatization for: people without experience running a business, foreign capital, old nomenklatura, present political elite, other persons, market price vs. state determined prices for basic food; market price vs. state determined prices for electricity, opinion about price differences of same products; opinion about child work; importance of traits running a company: cleverness or hard work, courage or persistence, economizing or risk, reliability or innovativeness, someone of immediate family ran own business; respondent owns farm or land.

11. Status evaluation and views on social issues: Social position on a 10 point scale; percent of people with same position; percent of people with lower position; reasons one to six indicating own position; general opinions and statements about additional payment and responsibility at work; studying and earning money after studying; income differences in society; reasons for social inequality; public aid for children of poor people; reduction of differences in incomes by the state; job providing through state; opinion about citizen’s influence on government; becoming rich at the cost of others; assessment of statements: politicians do not care about citizens, people get poorer, changes of transformation are good, inequalities become severe in five to ten years, honest people have good possibilities, majority will be prosperous in five to ten years.

12. Friends: Total number of close friends; number of close friends known longer than 10 years; friend running a company; social class: extent in Poland, respondent belongs to a certain class.

13. Household: Number of people in household; household members number one to eight: relationship to respondent; age; employed/unemployed; Spouse: employment status, cannot find suitable job (year/month), polish SKZ occupational classification, supervisory position, number of subordinates, subordinates who have supervisees, number of persons employed in firm, lived in household before 1988, year of birth, worked in January 1988, employed in 1988 - polish SKZ occupational classification, relatives run own business, relatives own farm; average monthly income of household; average monthly spending on food; financial problems in last 12 months in spending on: food, utilities, cultural items, leisure time; way of managing money in a household; assessment of amount to cover all necessary basic expenditures; material situation of household in last 5 years; current material situation of household; household equipment: colour TV, washing machine, video player, video camera, telephone; refrigerator, cable/satellite TV; estimated value of all items in household; possibility to acquire money in the short term (within a week, different amounts); year started to live in dwelling; dwelling type; ownership of dwelling; worth of the house; ownership status of dwelling; number of rooms in dwelling; number of square meters in dwelling; number of people living in dwelling; separate bathroom in dwelling; change of housing conditions in last five years; purchases furniture in last five years; worth of purchased furniture; number of books in apartment/house; household is in the possession of car (make); estimated value of the car by insurance company; place of having main meal (lunch, dinner); meals at home: simple or elaborate, dietary or rich, expensive or economic, quick or time consuming; respondent speaks foreign language; which language; abroad in last five years; number of journeys in last five years; number of weeks spend abroad in last five years; relatives in western country.

14. Education and occupational training: Education of respondent; occupational training/course since 1988; course name; training completed.

15. Political organizations and political activity: Member of trade union since 1988; trade unions (year joined/year left): Solidarnosc, Solidarnorsc 80, Solidarnosc Farm, OPZZ, other trade union; strike: ever participated, number of times participated, year first time participated, year last time participated; other forms of protest: ever participated, year last time participated; member of political organization number one to three: name, year joined, year left; voted in parliamentary election 1989; voted for Solidarnosc in parliamentary election 1991; voted in presidential election 1990; voted in parliamentary election 1991; respondent would participate in next elections; party respondent would vote for in parliamentary elections; interest in politics.

16. Poland’s situation over time: Assessment of Poland’s situation five years ago (ten point scale): impoverishment or growing welfare, unemployment or job security, efficient or inefficient government, social consensus or conflict, nationalization or privatization of economy, corrupt or honest authorities, political freedom or repression, social order or anarchy, market economy or centrally planned economy, free elections or imposed power, exploitation or independent treatment of employees, rule of law or lawlessness; assessment of Poland’s current situation (ten point scale): impoverishment or growing welfare, unemployment or job security, efficient or inefficient government, social consensus or conflict, nationalization or privatization of economy, corrupt or honest authorities, political freedom or repression, social order or anarchy, market economy or centrally planned economy, free elections or imposed power, exploitation or independent treatment of employees, rule of law or lawlessness; assessment of Poland’s situation in five years (ten point scale): impoverishment or growing welfare, unemployment or job security, efficient or inefficient government, social consensus or conflict, nationalization or privatization of economy, corrupt or honest authorities, political freedom or repression, social order or anarchy, market economy or centrally planned economy, free elections or imposed power, exploitation or independent treatment of employees, rule of law or lawlessness; most important feature for the development of Poland.