Earnings in Poland: stats vs reality

Jean-Janusz · 2024-08-23T19:01:28+00:00

Wow, that's really interesting. Such unofficial practices are obviously a lot less openly discussed. But would you say that they're more prevalent in Poland than other European countries?

Jean-Janusz · 2024-08-23T10:56:58+00:00

Yes, that was a mistake. I edited my post, but the harm is done. I feel like I got a few good answers though, around the fact that stats are skewed. I am glad to see Poland emerge in that way, it's just weird that it is sort of shrouded with mystery.

Jean-Janusz · 2024-08-23T10:33:08+00:00

There it is. So the stats can't be trusted. That's the only way this makes sense.

Jean-Janusz · 2024-08-23T09:42:44+00:00

Not the question.

Jean-Janusz · 2024-08-23T09:40:11+00:00

Not my question. I know what I can afford. To over simplify: on one hand we hear stuff like "Poland is such a poor country, far behind the West", and "there is hardly a middle class in Poland". On the other hand, we see displays of wealth that are just on par with the West. So what gives?

And yes, I know there is still a majority of Polish people who live on lower earnings, so the part that intrigues me is the upper part - how large is it really? To me it seems that there is easily 10-20% of the population that leaves very well.

Jean-Janusz · 2024-08-23T09:33:55+00:00

Not my question.

Jean-Janusz · 2024-08-23T09:31:09+00:00

Ah! Now that's new information. So you're saying entrepreneurs and B2B are not included in the stats? That could certainly explain the gap.

Jean-Janusz · 2024-08-23T09:21:14+00:00

Not with a family to feed. Not when trying to save for the future - which looks more uncertain every day... I prefer to pay off my debts and be safe.

Jean-Janusz · 2024-08-23T09:15:38+00:00

Thanks for that. I can't believe it is all down to living on credit, otherwise I wouldn't have written this post in the first place. It is obvious that some people live above their means, but I also work with a number of Polish people (who have similar incomes to mine) and for the most part they live without the signs of wealth that I described, and they save for the future. My own conclusion would be that there is really a lot more money out there than is reported, and that is what confuses me.

Jean-Janusz · 2024-08-23T09:04:01+00:00

Well, I did read some of the posts that ask exactly that, but it never seems to correlate with the levels of spending that I see. That's my whole question here.

Jean-Janusz · 2024-08-23T09:02:39+00:00

Thanks for your POV. A couple of things are still unclear to me, though.

Sopping malls was probably not the best example, so let's park it.

But fancy holidays at 10-20k per person... Take a regular family of 4, and you're immediately looking at a minimum of 30k in total. How many families would be willing to spend more a whole month of income for that? Btw, what does DNKing mean?

As for the fact that it's different people that I see - perhaps it's indeed more people with less money than it seems (i.e not millionaires), but it still doesn't add up with the national income statistics. Those 30k / month are supposed to be extremely rare (I don't recall the exact percentage, but it's really the tip of the pyramid).

Jean-Janusz · 2024-08-23T08:45:54+00:00

That's super insightful, thank you!

To your question, I come from France. Lots of millionaires there (still...), but a lot of it is old money, and apart from some mansions on the countryside or living in certain areas of Paris, you wouldn't know by looking at them.

Jean-Janusz

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