Dream middle class
For many people, the middle class is associated with relative prosperity, and therefore decent income or material goods. However, this cannot be precisely defined, and having specific goods such as smartphones, electronic equipment or even a car is no longer a sufficient determinant.
– There are a lot of middle class definition And they do not refer only to the financial situation, but often also to social status, to the profession, education, position in the company or to the form of employment – he said in an interview with “Fakt” dr hab. Michał Myck, head of the Cenea Economic Analysis Center.
On the other hand The report of the Polish Economic Institute includes four criteria: the nature of the work performed (mental workers or physical workers/farmers), the level of required qualifications for its performance, the position occupied in the organizational hierarchy and ownership of the means of production (entrepreneurs and self -employed or employees). This means that Average managers, corporate employees or entrepreneur with sole proprietorship can be found here.
Middle class income
Earnings are not insignificant. However, family members' income or total household income is important. The scale of earnings and the number of family members (a single with a income of 4,000 may have a higher status than a 5,000 earnings of 8,000).
Dr Michał Myck proposes for the reference point to the division of the population into 10 income groups, the so -called decile groups. Each subsequent group covers 10 percent. population (from the lowest to the highest income). This kind of ordering takes into account both the sum of the farm and the number of people (its demographic structure).
Median income
The level of income separating the 5th and 6th group is the so -called median income (below the poorer part of the population, above richer). – From the point of view of the level of income, the average class is most often defined in two ways. According to the definition, OECD is a group of farms with income above 75 percent. median and below 200 percent The median (the median corresponds to the threshold value between the 5th and 6th income group, for a one -man farm is PLN 4503 per month) – explains dr hab. Michał Myck.
According to these guidelines and OECD data, the middle class will include one adult with income between PLN 3378 and PLN 9007, two with income, between PLN 5066 and PLN 13,511, two and a child with income between PLN 6080 and PLN 16,213 or two adults and two children with income PLN 7093 to PLN 18,915. A wide range of this compartment can be seen immediately (in the last case it is up to PLN 11,000).
Middle class and election campaign
Using the above thresholds, In 2025 in Poland, the middle class would cover as much as 69 percent. population. 24 percent would go to the lower class, and only about 7 percent to the upper class. Although, as mentioned, a lot depends on the definition. If we only consider income, the middle class may also include group 3-8 (in accordance with the system adopted by the American Think Tank Brookings Institution).
In many countries, the middle class is the driving force of the economy, therefore, it is not surprising that various proposals of politicians are addressed to it. Sometimes, however, it passes with the planned target group. Presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki proposed to raise the second tax threshold to 140 thousand. PLN or 0 percent PIT for families with a minimum of two children (for a specific limit), as well as pro -family relief for entrepreneurs. However, calculations indicate that the benefits of such tax changes will go to as much as 63 percent. to the upper class (9 and 10 income group) and only in less than 1 percent to the poorest. The middle class would also not benefit enough – all these ideas would cost about PLN 19.1 billion during the year, but the middle class representatives would only gain PLN 12 billion a year.
Read also: How much “really” does a typical Pole earn? There is new GUS data
Source: Fact