19/2020
2020-06-29
Work and the Pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has had an effect on the work lives of close to half (46%) of those Polish people who were working at its very beginning (1 March 2020).
Almost one in ten (9%) had to limit the scope of their business and reduce the number of staff, while one in twenty (5%) had to close altogether. In all, 11% of respondents have declared a downscaling or complete stop to their business activity. One fifth (20%) were employees whose working hours were reduced because of the pandemic, and 3% lost their jobs altogether. Taking these together, it can be said that 7% of those working at the beginning of March have lost their jobs or closed their businesses, while a quarter (25%) have experienced loss of earnings as a result either of a reduction in their working hours or a downscaling of their business.
Over a fifth (21%) of respondents worked from home during lockdown, while one twentieth (5%) were in receipt of a carer’s benefit to look after their children at home.
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More on this subject in the CBOS report.
This ‘Current Events and Problems’ survey (359) was conducted using a mixed-mode procedure on a representative sample of named adult residents of Poland, randomly selected from the National Identity Number (PESEL) register.
Respondents independently selected one of the following methods:
– Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI);
– Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI), respondents receiving researchers’ telephone numbers in an introductory letter from CBOS;
– Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI), where respondents filled in the online questionnaire independently, gaining access by means of a login and password provided in an introductory letter from CBOS.
– Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI);
– Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI), respondents receiving researchers’ telephone numbers in an introductory letter from CBOS;
– Computer Assisted Web Interview (CAWI), where respondents filled in the online questionnaire independently, gaining access by means of a login and password provided in an introductory letter from CBOS.
In all three cases the questionnaire had the same structure and comprised the same questions. The survey was carried out between 22 May and 4 June 2020 inclusive on a sample of 1308 people (61.6% using the CAPI method, 24.4% CATI and 14% CAWI).