Demographic Context of Sustainable Socio-economic Development

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show a statistical analysis of demographic processes in Poland. The specific characteristics of the population structure of Poland against the background of Europe were indicated. The outlook for sustainable socio-economic development is presented from the point of view of the development of demographic processes in Poland by 2030. It is indicated that the aging of society will cause a difficult situation on the labor market. The author argues that the development of the perspective programs for strategic socio- economic development requires not only perfect knowledge of the main demographic processes and structures in the period preceding the starting point of the plan, but also taking into account the changes they would cause in the future. Data on population number, population structure by sex and age and foreign migration is obviously the necessary minimum information for developing a strategic program for socio- economic development. The demographic process in the structure of the population may have positive effects, such as an increase in human capital. The extensive labor market, which is based on the quantity of workers, is to be turned into an intensive one, which is based on their quality. The study reveals that it is necessary to promote the activities of the elderly, to counteract early professional deactivation, to promote the employment of parents with young children (mostly it concerns women); co-financing the costs for adapting the people, who want to work after a break in the employment/ retirement, to the requirements of the labor market.