POLISH WOMEN AND QUALITY OF LIFE: A PRELIMINARY RESEARCH REPORT

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RO CZN IK I SO C JO LO G II R O D ZIN Y XI

UA M Poznań 1999

POLISH WOMEN AND QUALITY OF LIFE:

A PRELIMINARY RESEARCH REPORT

J. Ma y o n e St y c o s, Ba r b a r a We j n e r t, Zb i g n i e w Ty s z k a

A b s t r a c t . Stycos J. M ayone, W ejnert Barbara, Tyszka Zbigniew, Polish Women and quality o f life: a prelim inary research report (Polskie kobiety i jakość życia. W stępny raport z badań). R oczniki Socjo logii Rodziny, XI, Poznań 1999. Adam M ickiewicz University Press, pp. 29-50. ISBN 83-232-0988-X. ISSN 0867-2059. Text in English.

J. Mayone Stycos, D epartm ent o f Rural Sociology Cornell University, USA

Barbara W ejnert, D epartm ent o f Human Developm ent and Family Studies, Cornell University, USA Zbigniew Tyszka, Uniw ersytet im. Adam a M ickiewicza, Instytut Socjologii (Institute o f Sociology Adam M ickiewicz University), ul. Szamarzewskiego 89,60-568 Poznan, Polska-Poland.

All of the Soviet U nion’s erstwhile satellites... have moved definitely away from communism. But the touchstone o f progress has long since become not moving away from communism, but moving toward democracy. The goal o f a W estern-type liberal democracy had looked relatively simple as com munism was being overturned, but in the follow ing months the Eastern Europeans were to learn how dif ficult and apparently thankless their chosen task was to be. (Brown 1992:16).

IN T R O D U C T IO N

The current dem ocratic transform ation taking place in the form er C om m unist states, and the transition tow ard a capitalistic m arket econom y, have brought sub stantial changes in the lives o f residents o f prior countries o f the U SSR (Stephenson 1998; R ebound & Chu 1997). A m ong these changes are the establishm ent o f politi cal freedom , free elections, elim ination o f censorship, an opening o f opportunities for private entrepreneurs, and, in the m ore econom ically advanced countries, avail ability o f both food and quality consum er products. M oreover, the ongoing political and econom ic unification w ith W estern Europe has exposed form er Soviet block so cieties to the life style o f W estern dem ocracies and presum ably to a higher standard o f living (B row n 1992; D ąbrow ski & A ntczak 1996; W ejnert 1996b, 1999; W ejnert

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& Spencer 1999). But dem ocratization and transition tow ard a m arket econom y have also been associated with changes in em ploym ent levels, fam ily relationships, redis tribution o f financial resources, the restructuring o f individual life-styles, and the em ergence o f a new class system. Though dem ocracy was perceived as a system that w ould guarantee an equally high standard o f living for all citizens, the con nectedness o f dem ocratic freedom w ith econom ic liberty has led to social inequality and social discom fort, a problem that has been broadly discussed by scholars study ing dem ocratic transitions (e.g., H eld 1990, Sandel 1996, Dahl 1971).

Pervasive changes in econom ic and political system s experienced over the last decade by Polish society and the free m arket practices generated disparity in socio econom ic conditions am ong various segm ents o f the general population (W ejnert & S pencer 1999). This disparity could lead to a sense o f unfairness and social inequal ity in all except the very top econom ic groups; thus low ering perceived quality o f life. W hile the com m unist system constrained the expression o f individual incen tives, and hence, aspirations w ere generally low, w ith the dem ocratic and free m arket transform ation, incentives and aspirations w ere kindled. For som e groups, progress has been m uch slow er than people have hoped, w hich could lead to a per sistent state o f deprivation relative to a new goal o f success.

V ulnerability and sensitivity to such changes are likely to vary by gender, by socioeconom ic status, by age, and by urban/rural residence (Funk & M ueller 1993; International L abor O ffice 1985; W ejnert 1996a). W om en are particularly disadvan taged, especially those w ho live in rural com m unities (W ejnert 1996, W ejnert & S pencer 1996). A lthough m any o f the contem porary trends have been com m only as sum ed to have enriched w om en’s lives and increased their opportunities, the costs to them m ay have been substantial (Funk 1996, W ejnert 1996b). Rising unem ploym ent has been a particular threat to w om en’s sense of security. Further, the growth o f so cial and econom ic inequality m ay have caused w om en’s status to decline vis-à-vis that o f m en and other reference groups com m only targeted for self evaluation (Issraelyan 1996, L issyutkina 1993, W ejnert & Spencer 1996).

In short, objective m easures o f “progress” are easier to identify and collect than are subjective m easures. A lthough political freedom s and econom ic well-being have im proved for m any Polish w om en over the past decade, it is less certain that there has been a com m ensurate increase in psychological well-being.

R E S E A R C H O N Q U A L IT Y O F L IF E IN P O L A N D

R eports on Q uality o f Life (QOL) for the general Polish population go back as far as the 1960s, w hen H andley Cantril (1965) found that the m odel evaluation score on general w ell-being on an 11 p oint scale was five. Such studies are useful for cross-national com parisons and assessing overall change over tim e, but have two m ajor lim itations: first, they fail to report findings for sub-groups (e.g., scores by

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gender, region, social class, age or rural-urban residence); second, they fail to assess satisfaction w ith different sub-categories o f life such as fam ily, econom y, environ m ent, etc.

Our study was intended to help fill in these gaps, by designing a survey that would include various sub-categories o f the population, and contain questions on satisfac tion with a variety o f life dom ains. In essence the research questions were: have im provem ents in health, w ealth, life and liberty led to greater achievem ent in the pur suit o f happiness, and to w hat extent have different groups in the population shared gains or losses in satisfaction w ith various aspects o f life? A conceptual m odel gene rating hypotheses concerning the determ inants o f QOL, follow ed by a large-scale survey to test the hypotheses, w ould enhance answ ering such questions.

C O N C E P T U A L M O D E L

Based on the pioneering work o f Andrew s and others, we have selected fifteen life “dom ains” (A ndrew s and Inglehart 1979; Andrew s and M cK ennel 1980; A n drew s and R obinson 1991).1 M icro-type dom ains that have proven to be especially im portant in other countries include satisfaction w ith w ork, m arriage, standard o f

Figure 1. Model o f Determ inants o f QOL

1 For each o f these dom ains the respondent was asked for her current degree o f satisfaction, and for satisfaction prior to the political changes a decade ago. A scale o f seven points from extreme satisfaction to dissatisfaction was be used.

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living, health and environm ent. W e also included satisfaction w ith fam ily size and contraception because o f their special significance to wom en. M acro dom ains in clude satisfaction w ith governm ent, church and the general econom y. Respondents were also asked for their degree o f general satisfaction with life as a whole.

Figure 1 show s the overall m odel that drives the study design, the questionnaire content, and the m ode o f analysis. W e have divided the hypothesized determ inants o f Q O L into tw o sets o f variables: behavioral histories o f em ploym ent, fertility, and political participation on the one hand, and social psychological characteristics on the other. T hese latter include fam iliar dem ographic and social variables - age, edu cation, residence, incom e - that have been know n to explain at least som e o f the var iance in Q O L, along w ith at least three less com m on m easures - religiosity, tradi tionalism , and com m unity characteristics.

R E S E A R C H S IT E

W e selected region o f Konin near Poznan as our research site. Konin is a region (w ojew ództw o) that over the past three decades has undergone historical changes that were typical o f other Polish regions. A round the end of the 1960’s, due to the com m unist policy o f rapid industrialization and urbanization, the governm ent con structed an industrial city in the agricultural hinterland o f Konin, an effort sim ilar to those m ade in B razil and India, but with m ore effective jo b creation. In addition to m assive infrastructure developm ent in the tow n o f K onin, the governm ent located several new industries in the region - alum inum production, electricity generation, and coal m ining/processing. Thus, urbanization, industrialization and a surge o f m ale and fem ale em ploym ent in the service and industrial sectors cam e to the area alm ost overnight. A t the sam e time, sim ilar econom ic, dem ographic, and social re structuring took place in other Polish rural regions, w here substantial industrial cent ers w ere built in the m idst o f agricultural areas (e.g., a petrochem ical industry in the P lock region, and the largest Polish m etallurgy factory, N ow a Huta, near Cracow). M oreover, by its social, econom ic and dem ographic characteristics, Konin is repre sentative o f m any other regions in Poland. It is a m edium -sized region with a popu lation o f 476,000, w here, despite the inputs o f industry and infrastructure, 56% o f the reg io n ’s population still resides in villages, com pared to 39% for all o f Poland. (W ojew ódzki U rząd Statystyczny w K oninie 1993: 25, G łów ny U rząd Statystyczny 1993:LX V I); (see also Figure 2). Konin has the same proportion o f working-age people as the nation (56% com pared to 57% ), a sim ilar proportion o f the labor force is fem ale (43% in K onin com pared w ith 46% in Poland), and a sim ilar rising unem ploym ent rate (see Figure 3). M arriage rates and ages at m arriage are virtually iden tical for K onin and Poland (W ojew ódzki U rząd Statystyczny w K oninie 1993, G łów ny U rząd Statystyczny 1993).

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The attractiveness o f Konin as a research site w as further enhanced by data from research conducted in this region at the end o f the 1960s by our Polish co-investiga- tor, Prof. Z. T yszka (Tyszka 1970).

T H E Q U E S T IO N N A IR E A N D S A M P L E

W e devised a questionnaire o f approxim ately 45 m inutes duration (A ppendix A) that w as adm inistered by interview ers to 50 w om en in urban and rural areas near Poznan and K onin. Fieldw ork was carried out in 1995 by the survey organization A N K IETER , under the direction o f dr K rzysztof Podem ski. A bout four fifths o f the wom en w ere m arried, three quarters had com pleted high school, and tw o thirds were em ployed outside the home.

P R E L IM IN A R Y R E S U L T S

A lthough a large-scale survey would be required to answ er the questions we have raised, at this stage we report the prelim inary results o f the pretest. One set o f questions asked about

“Y our satisfaction w ith life. I will show you a card asking you to choose the num ber w hich best m atches your opinion, w here 1 m eans the m ost satisfaction and 7 the least satisfaction.”

Fifteen dim ensions o f life w ere queried, along w ith an overall appraisal o f life in general. T able 1, w hich divides the dom ains into four levels o f satisfaction, shows that the low est degree o f satisfaction refers to the environm ent, the governm ent, and the econom y. The highest satisfaction concerns o n e’s fam ily and social life (how others treat you). In betw een these extrem es but on the high side are political liber ties, health, w ork, personal achievem ents, political freedom , housing and the neigh borhood, w hile incom e, free time, how the free tim e is spent, and the C hurch are relatively low in satisfaction. A bout half o f the 15 item s are classified in the higher and half in the low er categories.

T a b l e 1 Mean Score for 14 Quality o f Life Domains

Satisfaction level M ean Scores (Range) Domain

Low 4.8-4.9 Environment, Governance, Econom y

M oderately Low 3.7-4.1 Church, Income, Free Time, How free time is spent

M oderately High 2.9-3.3 Health, Neighborhood, Apartment, Political Liberties, W ork Self-Achievem ent

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“Life in general” received a mean score o f 2.6, on the high side, but low er than fam ily and social life. Thus, despite the general low level o f satisfaction with many particular aspects o f life, a satisfactory fam ily and social life m ay be crucial in the general high evaluation o f “life in general.”

O ur second objective w as to assess w hat im pact the political and econom ic changes since 1989 have had on w om en’s satisfaction with life. To determ ine this, respondents w ere asked to com pare their current situation to their situation prior to 1989. W ere they “better, w orse or about the sam e?” R esponses dem onstrated little enthusiasm for the current situation. A ccording to ju st over half o f the sam ple, the situation o f w om en had w orsened, w hile only one-third thought it had improved. A sked about em ploym ent opportunities for wom en, 82% said they had declined, and no one thought they had increased. One h a lf felt “the environm ent”2 had worsened and only 12% thought it had im proved. W hile ju st over half felt their current income was better than before, two thirds felt less secure financially, and half said they could buy less now than before. R egarding politics, only one fifth feel the country is better governed now, and one third regard it as w orse governed. M oreover, while three quarters said there is a greater freedom to express oneself now, only about one third said their ability to criticize the local governm ent had im proved, (while 56% said it had w eakened). O nly one fifth said their influence on decisions o f local governm ent had increased, w hile a quarter say it had decreased. Thus, the data point to considerable disillusion with the changes - in politics, econom ics and the en vironm ent. H ow ever, w hen asked “generally speaking how is your life now ?” half say life is better than before the changes and only 10% say life is worse. M oreover, asked about their level o f happiness six years ago, 80% said they were happy or very happy then - sim ilar to the 82% that rated them selves as currently happy. T hese data not only suggest a general high level o f satisfaction with life, but suggest no deteri oration (or im provem ents) in general happiness over the decade. Indeed, there is considerable optim ism about the future. “In response to the question In five years do you think you will be “very happy” ...etc.” 86% said happy, only 2% said unhappy and the balance gave “D o n ’t know ” responses.

C O N C L U S IO N

H ow does our study com pare w ith Q O L research conducted by others, and can any hypotheses be derived for future research?

First, o ther studies o f the Polish population suggest long-range stability in levels o f general happiness. V eenhaven and Ehrhardt (1995) and Veenhaven (1996) reports a m ean o f 7.0, on a ten point scale, in Polish happiness both prior to the transition (1989) and in 1996. H ow ever, there w ere significant short-term changes, since the

The question was “How would you rate your environment, I mean air quality, the quality of drinking water, etc.?”

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same m easures taken in 1992 and 1993 dropped to 6.1 and 6.2, before rebounding to 7 in the latter part o f the 1990s. T hese shifts may indicate that only pow erful m acro changes in the society can effect (like Polish “shock theraphy” ) substantial change in a relatively stable level o f general happiness.

A lthough V eenhaven (1996) does not report differences by sex, his m ean level for the general Polish population (7.0) exceeds our m en for w om en o f 6.6 (adjusted to a 10 point scale). A m erican studies have also found low er levels o f life satisfac tion am ong w om en (A ndrew s & W ithney 1976), who were also m ore likely than men to recall negative aspects o f their lives (Cam pbell 1981). O ur findings that m arriage and fam ily are the strongest determ inants o f life satisfaction has also been confirm ed by A m erican studies (A ndrew s and W ithney 1976; A ndrew s and Robins 1991; C am pbell 1981). B ut why should w om en report low er levels o f life satisfac tion? O ne possibility is increasing dissatisfaction with m ale contributions to house hold tasks. H aavio-M annila (1992:105) concluded that “w om en were happier... the more the spouse participated in dom estic w ork” . O nly h a lf o f our respondents re ported that their husbands often help w ith household chores, data consistent with earlier W orld B ank studies carried out in five E uropean countries including Poland (W orld B ank 1994).

Clearly tw o m ajor areas for future research are indicated: First, w hat kinds o f m acro-changes affect w hich dom ains o f life satisfaction? Second, w hat accounts for consistently low er fem ale evaluations o f quality o f life?

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