Możliwości wielofunkcyjnego rozwoju wsi polskiej na początku XXI wieku

Opportunities for a multi-functional development of Polish rural areas on the turn of the 21st century

Summary: In the years 1960-1988, in Poland, the number of people related to the individual farming in the country decreased from about 12.3 million to about 8.6 million, while their share in rural population decreased from 80 to 58%. In this period, especially in the years 1971-1980, mass migrations to towns were observed, as a result of which net losses in rural population totalled about 2.0 million people, while in the years 1981-1985 the losses amounted to almost 700 thousand people. In 1988 the absolute number of farming population in Polish rural areas totalled 8.6 million, while non-farming population amounted to 6.1 million people. It must be stressed that 3.3 million people from this group, i.e. over 50%, were people employed in industries other than farming, mainly in towns. A large group of people (1.3 million) was formed by people whose main earnings came from pensions. Over 1.2 million worked in organised farming, the majority of whom belonged to state PGR units (about 960 thousand people). It must be added that after 1990, in certain parts of Poland, the liquidation of PGR units caused structural unemployment among the inhabitants of the districts belonging to the former PGR units. The transformation after 1990 brought a significant inhibition of changes in the share of non-farmers in Polish villages, as the opportunities of employment in non-farming occupations were limited. The unemployment increased rapidly, at the end of 1999 reaching the level of about 2350 thousand people, out of which 1055 thousand came from rural areas. The statistics show that the unemployment is especially high in places where the share of the so-called 'industry-workers-and-farmers' was rather high (Małopolska, but also the areas with a high share of PGR units before 1990) (Fig. 1). The concealed unemployment in individual farming is estimated to cover 1.5 - 2 million people. This will constitute a serious problem in the coming years (until 2005), and it is estimated that the need for non-farming employment of the Polish population will total 3 million jobs by 2010. A decisive majority of Polish farming families, as well as families employed outside farming, must have the non-farming job opportunities if we intend to stop the growing gap of the standards of living in urban and rural areas. It must be remembered that ca. 40% of Polish population live in rural areas. Out of over 300 rural poviats, over a half, i.e. 155 were inhabited in 70% and more by farmers. This refers mainly to the central, eastern, and south-eastern Poland (Fig. 2). In four present voivodeships: Małopolskie, Świętokrzyskie, Podkarpackie, Lubelskie, the share of farmers amounted to 50% and more. This brings significant implications for the regional policy.

Kortus B. (red.), 2001, Człowiek i Przestrzeń, IGiGP UJ, Kraków, ss. 228, s. 133-145.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

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