ABSTRACT
In 1989, Poland experienced the scenario which became more or less common for many of the post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe: a severe drop in GDP at the beginning of the decade, followed by recovery. Radical economic and institutional reorganization also affected income distributions and the standard of living of most of the socioeconomic groups in Poland. The pension system prevailing in Poland until 1999 was founded on regulations that originated under the communist system. In 1989 the most serious post-war crisis in Poland hit the whole social insurance system. It was caused by demographic factors, early retirements and also by a general crisis in public finances. The core of the database used for measuring well-being came from the annual household budget survey undertaken by the Central Statistical Office of Poland. The general results on the well-being of the elderly in Poland may be found to be somewhat surprising. Their material status in 1993 and especially in 1996, was relatively good.
