1) A friend who owns a travel business here in Cracow told us many interesting things. He organizes tours for groups coming to visit Cracow from other countries. He will have around 220 groups of visitors coming to see Cracow this year. Many will come in the summer. He told us there are about 10 million people a year coming to visit Cracow (again mostly in the summer). Cracow is quite a popular place for tourists and conference attendees.
To maintain an office in Cracow he must pay 23% VAT (value added tax), plus rent, health insurance for his employees, unemployment taxes for his employees and pension contributions for his employees. All added up he ends up paying 50% of his gross income in taxes. That is a lot.
Many of the free guided walking tour companies in Cracow are really non for profit foundations. They can be non for profit because they are promoting Polish culture. Their funding comes from various sources. The guides survive off of tips.
His company offers tours in several different languages, but not for free.
He was talking to us about his recent wedding anniversary. Apparently civil weddings are legal here, but not recognized as legal by the Roman Catholic Church. Church weddings are legal and are obviously recognized by the church. There must be some advantage of having a church wedding, but I am not sure of the details. He had a civil marriage first, then a church wedding at a later point. During the church ceremony he and his wife were addressed as "fiancé" and "fiancée" despite the fact that they were already legally married by the state. That is because the church does not recognize civil marriages as being legal.
2) Another friend told us that during Communist times companies owned holiday cottages all over Poland and sometimes in other countries. Her father worked for a coal mine in Poland. That coal mine offered their employees the opportunity to rent those cottages cheaply during vacation times. Sometimes her family would rent one of those cottages in Zakopane during the summer. Her parents also rented such a cottage in Hungary before she was born. How nice the cottages were depended on how rich the company was. The coal mining was thriving then, so its accommodations were pretty good. Unfortunately this practice stopped when Communism left Poland.
3) Other friends were talking to us about the current educational system in Poland. Since joining the EU in 2004, Poland has changed its educational system to match what is being done in other EU countries. This means the number of years students are going to school have increased in Poland. Schools have added more grade levels to their buildings. Higher education requires more years of study. There are fewer vocational schools. Everyone now is going to school for more years, but those with advanced degrees can't find work in their field. They end up taking on some menial job. Those who want a skilled vocation end up getting more years of studies in areas that they don't need to do their profession. There has been a recent decrease in the number of children in Poland. The result is fewer students overall in Poland. Schools have shut down because of it and teachers have lost jobs too. There are fewer students so it is quite easy to get admitted to a university. In order to study at a university you must pass an end of year high school exam called the "matura". This past year 1/3 of the students did not pass this exam. They are not qualified then to apply for university studies. If they want to, they can take the matura exam again at the end of August to try to pass it. If they pass, they can still apply for university studies in the Fall. Overall my friends are disappointed with the direction the educational system is going in Poland. They thought the Polish education system was good before the EU came here. As teachers they notice more instability in their work environment. Job security is more of an issue than it has been in the past.
4) Yet another friend was talking to us about the EU, changes to the retirement system in Poland, health insurance in Poland and currency issues. Recently legislation passed to change the age that you can retire. The old rule was women can retire at age 60 and men at 65. Now it is age 67 for both women and men. Feminist organizations were for the new retirement age for women when the idea was introduced. Surveys of women done after the bill was passed showed that most women were against the new retirement age. The new retirement age rule is being gradually phased in over 10 years. Those close to retirement now will be under the old rules. They won't be forced to work to age 67.
The retirement pension used to be based on your income and years of service. Now they have added the factor of life expectancy. The result is you will receive less money every month when you are retired. Now that people are living longer they are trying to stretch out the same amount of money over more years.
Most people in Poland want Poland to retain control of their national retirement pension and health insurance. They are part of the national budget. The fear is that if Poland goes to the Euro then they will not be able to subsidize their pension and health care systems. Right now the state budget is subsidizing those systems. Going to the Euro would mean losing their ability to subsidize those systems. That is a huge issue here. There is much resistance to accept the Euro as currency at this point. In order to change to the Euro there would have to be a referendum (public opinion poll would need to be for the change) and a vote in Parliament to change their constitution (stating a change in the national currency).
Private medical clinics do exist in Poland. You have to pay the full amount for these services. They are not subsidized by the national government. Advantages of going to these privatized clinics are better doctors and faster service. It still is such a slow process to be seen at a nationally subsidized clinic. You might have to wait up to 6 months to see a doctor if there is a medical concern. Many people cannot afford to o to private clinics.
Elections for parliament won't be for another year or so, but politicians are trying to sweeten the deal and butter up their constituents with a slight raise in the amount of retirement pension they receive. Our friend called this political move "election kielbasa". Parliament is now a left of center group. The thought is the next elections could bring the orientation more to the right (conservatives-"family values"). Changes could be in store.
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