A Policy Aimed at Social Security of the Precariat: Polish Experiences and Challenges from Social and Economic Perspective

Abstract

The precariat is a new social category that exists in all countries around the world and consists of people who work in the gig economy and/or are employed under civil law contracts. One of the key factors that determines membership of the precariat is the uncertainty felt by individuals in the labour market as a result of, inter alia, being employed on flexible forms. The research aim of this article is to define the specificity of the Polish precariat and their sense of social security in the context of the current employment support and social policy of the Polish government. The utilitarian goal is to evaluate the “Polish Deal” programme currently proposed by the Polish government in terms of its strengths and weaknesses in order to reduce the precariat phenomenon and boost the Polish precariat’s sense of social security. The article also attempts to demonstrate the effects of actions taken by the Polish government since 2015, which were aimed at improving the situation on the precariat labour market. In order to determine the extent to which the current government in Poland affects the social security of the precariat and satisfies their needs by taking social welfare action and implementing indirect operations related to education, a questionnaire was used, conducted via the Internet, involving a survey panel of respondents. In this study, a stratified-quota sample selection was used, corresponding to the proportions of people working on the basis of various flexible forms of fixed-term employment and self-employment. One thousand respondents employed on flexible terms participated in the study. The study was carried out at the turn of March/April 2021.