Poland’s Poverty from the US Perspective

Abstract

The major objective of this study is to provide a tangible metric that can be used to assess the state of Polish poverty. To do so, we compare certain characteristics of poverty in Poland and United States, with a focus on different societal groups affected by poverty in each country. Based on official, mostly income-based statistics measuring poverty in the United States and Poland, we find that a higher percentage of the overall population in the United States is poor than in Poland and, relative to median country-specific incomes, that poverty is deeper. Examining selected societal groups that typically experience a high incidence of poverty, we find more American children, elderly, and disabled are poor than in Poland. In conclusion, the breadth of poverty is wider in the United States than in Poland and, perhaps more importantly, poverty in America may also, in some important ways, be more intractable.