Living in Poland vs England from the Economical Point of View

Where is it easier to live: in Poland or in England?

Possibly, as many as two million people have left Poland for economic and social reasons. Either they saw no chance of employment or if employed no chance of proper remuneration. In Britain, where many Poles have settled, the gross average wage is approximately 2200 pounds per month. In Poland the average net wage is perhaps 1900 złoty. In Poland there is also the phenomenon of the unemployed, who have no entitlement even to unemployment benefit or even to be counted. Clearly earnings in Britain are five times higher than in Poland.

When the costs of living in Britain and Poland are compared, services such as water, gas, electricity and telephones cost the same and petrol only cost a little more in Britain than in Poland. Food costs only twice as much in London than it does in Poland. Housing and accommodation is expensive in Britain but probably is no more expensive than in Poland, when one relates it to the wages in Britain.

It is also easier to live in Britain. In Britain officials actually try to be helpful. The tax system is relatively simple. The medical and social services, while not perfect, normally operate in an integrated comprehensive and competent manner. This is economically significant as it saves so much time and a tremendous amount of stress. In Poland the tax department is generally as awkward as possible and with a mixture of labyrinthine procedures, incompetence and viciousness contrives to make life as difficult as possible for employee and entrepreneur alike. As if this were not enough the compulsory social security system is even more inefficient and ineffective, apparently nobody, not even they can account for where the money goes. The social security system in Poland is a major barrier to the development of self-employed private business, because the statutory obligatory contributions prevent many people from starting modest business activities. Curiously, it is significant where one lives in Poland, because the individual district tax offices and social security offices all have their own interpretations of the regulations. Some district tax offices have almost succeeded in eliminating business from their districts; it makes life so much easier for them.

In Britain one undoubtedly has more surplus money for saving and for pleasure. In Britain one also has time for pleasure and relaxation because there is far less abuse of employees by employers. In Poland an employee may have a contract that stipulates the number of hours per month, but one finds that generally employers, Poles and foreigners alike, intimidate employees into working twenty-five perhaps even forty per cent more hours. Official Polish statistics declare that unemployment is now falling in Poland, but it frequently takes a graduate two years of strenuous search to find unsatisfactory employment. Perhaps in several years the situation will be better it is moving in that direction, albeit at a snail pace, but who has time to wait if they want to have a home and a family?

Achilles Węgorz

Yeah, I think Polish people while make good money working abroad, they work too much, too many jobs and hours at one time. It seems their lives abroad starts and ends with a job. They should find more time to go on vacation - not only to Poland, but also to other countries.

you are right hello.i know a few crazy people who work 7 days a week and have 2 jobs.all of them have their reason to do it.some are under the red line back in poland or try to make up the hard times of communism and buy everything at once.usually these are the people who just came over here. i worked a lot of ours as well and not always it was my choice.now i slowed down a bit.go out more often travel abroad2-3 times a year and buy what i want-just what others do.

If an average and not exciting life is fine with you, living in Poland is not that bad. But when you want to get more from life, England is definately a better choice.

I actually plan to retire in Poland (after having lived in the UK for 10 years). I miss the country life in Poland (and Polish TV, especially sport). I visit Poland every year, but I need to make up my mind finally.

Reading this thread has been very interesting....hearing about the current status of life in PL - it shows just how much impact living in a "closed society" (i.e. communism) has had on the general population. It's not surprising to read that poles have left in droves in order to make money; in order to jump on the consumer bandwagon (as in the West). I guess after 50 years of deprivation (political, social, economic, educational freedom etc) it's bound to lead to an over emphasis on material goods etc., but you know, in the end they will find that the pursuit of money and consumerism is not the golden goose they originally believed.....in fact it can become a vicious circle of never-ending preoccupation with acquiring more and more....it never ends...so, all this chasing after the dollar is an overcompensation and eventuallly the pendulum will find a balance....at which time, people will probably return to PL and start to appreciate "home" again......

I am going to back up Muzyka on this point, said so much better than I could have put it.
I did have something I wanted to say to Achilles, what part of England are you basing this on? National averages? Because as I think the whole world agrees, this does not truly reflect the 'working man'. Many people are lucky if they earn £2200 (gross) per month. And if that Person is not fluent in English, it is very, very rare. Add to this the problem of supporting a family (if you have one) and the huge cost of housing, unless your happy in a slum, a 'grass is not always greener on the other side' approach should be taken. I'm not trying to put down the genuine problems that Poland as a nation faces, but simply put out there that, not everything is coated in Gold, here in England. However if you work hard and long, and treat money with respect, then there are more possibilities in England at this current time.

Good point Big Rob - re the above statement on average wages. I'd like to add that in Australia the average wage is about $AUD 2,900 per month before tax = roughly 1,600 pounds sterling (based on current exchange rates). Australian wages are probably close to Briitish as our standard of living is equal, if not higher than GB.

Utter rubbish. I teach in Plock and earn c. 3,500 - 4,200 PLN per month (before tax). I rent a flat for 700 PLN and pay the usual water, electricity, etc.

My standard of living is better/higher than in Englan. rents in cities in England are very high. I could go on. However, you are making false comparisons.

Ken

LOL. It was 20 years ago. Many young people in Poland don’t know what communism is. You are funny.

Average Uk wage is £29K per year, about £2400 per month, 13,500 PLN per month. My rent is £310/month 1700PLN.

Botton line is the numbers say it all !!!! Poles leave becouse is easier there and harder here I am a guy that tried both in the UK and Poland and let me tell if you will have to pick wich one of this places to go for better chances to make a living easier pick the UK .
so the article is right !is all reality face it or leave it .

PS I am writing this from Warsaw , Poland

Well, the West and the East sind verschieden. I smts think one could divide the world in 2 big o` Rooneys like in On the Road by Jack Kerouack - the phrase, I mean. The West and the East - the 2 big o`Rooneys. The West is economically organised, intensely regulated (with few negative exc.), careless about trivial everyday things like accomodation etc and mostly eficient. The East is the opposite of the West. Therefore, the great differences in ways of life, behaviour and - in people. Threfore, the unemployment, scandals, food shortages insome families, richness combined with luxury, whereas in the West luxury could be 5-10 times more abundant, but most of the people are middle-class troopers, not 50% rich, 50% poor as in te East (or so). And that is why poor people in the east marry rich people in the same east, and they become rich themselves. That is also why we have so many rich people there, either men or women, ja, ich sage dir was. That is something maybe isolated in the West, not a regular basis...

TheEast is balcanic, dirty, mixed, unbalanced. The West - non-balcanic , predominantly clean, mixed and quite balanced. My opinion, your opinion... The world is divided. I am sure Italians and Germans are much more similar than Italians and Bulgarians. Why - Slavic and Latin? Nooo... Some live in the West, some - in the East...
By and large, from a social and econ point of view, thats it...

One should not necessarily evade -so to say or marry for citiyenship in the West. You can also study a lot in the East, pursue a career that also allows you to go for a grant (master/PhD) abroad, you can find lots of jobs at least in IT, engineering and services industry. You can become a poet, a fiddler, anything you are good at and suits you.
Nobody breaks your head in broad daylight on the street and not all the managers are pimps. Not all, yes :))). Well, yeah, people are how they are, for better, for worse, more open to culture, mostly opaque to that...
My problem is and will never be money. I am not rich (about middle class amI), but, thisis not the point. I`d like that globalization brings a change not in the salaries in the East, but in the mentality there first. One should understand bribery is a thing not to be practiced like sluts that blow everything (horses) for 10 dollars, but a thing that should only be done in the upper class, or as a means of sponsorship -in case that one student e.g. has a millionaire or billionaire father, and his father funds his university, bla-bla-bla and so on. But not in everyday contexts and not in the academical one!
Also, if I go to the disco to get my head broken or to get into jail for doing that to defend myself, than - I`d better go to a blues club, my friend. And that`s where I usually go. Eastern MENTALITY should be changed! For ever!