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Chapter2:ThePolishCase
Theincreaseinextramaritalbirthsisonlytoaverylimitedextenttheresult
ofthedecliningimportanceofmarriage.Boleslawski(2001)showsithasmainly
beenaproductofdecliningmaritalfertility(atleastuntil2000).Marriagere-
mainsaquiteuniversallivingarrangementinPoland:amongwomenbornbe-
tween1965and1970,85%-88%havemarried.Andthesenumbersmaycontinue
toincrease,especiallyforthe1970cohort,asmarriage,likechildbearing,ispost-
ponedtolaterages(Kotowskaetal.2008).
AnotherindicatorofthestrengthofmarriageinPolandisthelowlevelof
extramaritalcohabitation.Thecensusof2002showedthatonly2.2%ofallcou-
pleslivingtogetherwerenotmarried.Youngpeopleperceivelivingtogether
whileunmarriedtobeatemporaryarrangementonly(Fihel2005,Slany2002).
Long-lastingcohabitationinPolandtendstobeachoiceforpeopleoverage40,
mostlyasasecondunionafteradivorceorwidowhood(Slany2002,Szukalski
2003).Ingeneral,youngPolishcouplesstilloverwhelminglychoosemarriageas
alivingarrangement,andwedlockisaprerequisiteforchildbearing.
TheimportanceofwedlockcanalsobeseeninPoland’slowdivorcerates.
EventhoughthetotaldivorceratehasbeenincreasinginPolandinrecentde-
cades(withatemporarydeclineintheyears1989-1993),itstillremainsrela-
tivelylow.Amongthecountriesconsidered,onlySpainhasfewerdivorces.In
thiscountry,however,legislationgoverningdivorcewasenactedonlyin1981,
andthedatadoesnotincludeseparations,whicharefarmorepopular(Delgado,
MeilandZamoraLopez2008).
2.1.3.Anoteonmigration
BeforewesummarisedemographictrendsrelatedtofertilityinPoland,we
shouldcommentbrieflyonmigrationpatterns.InPolandnetmigrationsrates
havealwaysbeennegative,andthenumbersofpeoplewhoemigratedforperma-
nentresidencewererelativelystablebetween1980and2005:20,000-30,000
peopleleftPolandeachyear.Therefore,thereisnoreasontoattributethedecline
infertilityratesafter1990toout-migration.
Potentiallymoreimportantforcurrentfertilitytrendsaretemporarymigra-
tions.AccordingtotheNationalCensus,in2002almost800,000Poleshadlived
abroadforatleasttwomonths(withabout80%ofthisgrouplivingabroadfor
longerthan12months).In1988,thenumberwasmuchlower(500,000).Since
May2004,whenPolandbecameamemberoftheEuropeanUnion,thenumberof
peopleleavingthecountrytemporarily(mostlyforwork)hasincreaseddramati-
cally.AccordingtoCentralStatisticalOfficeestimates,asmanyas1.45million