ABSTRACT
Post-communist transformations can be described as policy-induced, multidimensional social change accelerated by the impact of economic openness and globalization. From the mid-1980s onwards, the socialist state started to loosen the control of economic activities and even encouraged the growth of small enterprises. The initial period of economic transformation, dating from 1990 till the end of 1994, was characterized by the declining number of employed and the rate of employment together with the sharp rise of unemployment. Youth entrepreneurship became one of the main focuses of public policy at the beginning of the 21st century when it became evident that an expected 5 percent growth of the national economy would be unable to absorb the then unemployed and the expected inflow of the baby boom cohorts into the labour market. It has been estimated that approximately 14 percent of workforce in Poland is employed as self-employed.
