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Chapter2:ThePolishCase
Intheliteratureconcerningdemographicchangesinpost-warPoland,aclear
distinctionismadebetweentheperiodspanning1950to1989,andthetransfor-
mationperiodwhichoccurredafterthefallofthecommunistregimein1989.
Thedistinctionismadefortworeasons.First,theperiodsarecharacterisedby
entirelydifferentpolitical,economic,andsocietalcharacteristics(one-party
socialismvs.politicaldemocracy;acentrallyplannedvs.afreemarketeconomy).
Second,thedemographictrendsobservedbeforeandafter1990aresubstantially
different,andrequiredifferentexplanatoryapproaches.Before1990,fertilityand
nuptialitytrendsfluctuated,andthechangeswereexplainedprimarilyasbeing
theresultoftheSecondWorldWarandofsubsequentcompensatorybehaviours
(KotowskaandKuszewski1999).Inthelate1980s,thetrendsbecamepracti-
callyunwavering.Theperiodafterthefallofcommunismischaracterisedmost
ofallbystablefertilitydeclineandpostponementoffamilyformation.Toex-
plainthesedemographicdevelopments,itisnotsufficienttoreferonlytothe
post-warchangesinageandgenderstructureofthepopulation.Economic,insti-
tutional,andideationalfactorshaveincreasedinimportance(e.g.Frątczak1999,
Kotowska1999a,Strzelecki2004).
Inthefollowingsections,wewillpresentthePolishcaseindetail.First,we
describethedemographicchangesrelatedtothefamilyandfertilityafter1990,
asthesetrendsarethefocusofourstudy.Next,wepaintapictureoftheeco-
nomic,institutional,andculturalconditionsinPoland.Tobetterillustratethe
specificsofthePolishcase,wecomparePoland’smaincharacteristicstothose
ofcountriesfromotherregionsofEurope,usingonecountryfromeachregion
asanexample,withtheNetherlandsrepresentingtheWest,Swedenrepresent-
ingtheNorth,andSpainrepresentingtheSouth.Wealsoincludetwoother
countriesfromthepost-socialistbloc,BulgariaandHungary,toshowthat,
evenincomparisontoothertransformationcountries,Polandisaquitedistinct
case.
