Low wages – Coincidence or a result? Evidence from Poland

Abstract

The article evaluates the influence of a wide range of socio-demographic, job and company-related characteristics on the likelihood of low earnings by applying logistic regression on a broad range of Labour Force Survey data. We evidenced that the average impact of the company-related characteristics is three times stronger than the impact of personal characteristics. We also found that working full-time considerably decreases this risk of low wages, but company-related and personal characteristics (except for the kind of company’s economic activity) have not provided a rent (benefit) from working full-time. The underlying conclusion is that reforms decreasing the size of the low-wage sector in the former transition countries should be focused on targeted employment programmes enhancing transitions to more profitable economic activities instead of possibly maintaining the unprofitable industries at all costs. Additionally, the reforms should be concentrated on introducing employment regulations to harmonise the rules of employment among all contract types, which would put the part-timers and the underemployed on a more equal footing with fulltime workers especially in terms of pension schemes and access to training.