Attitudes toward Young and Old People and Their Place
in Poland’s Changing Society
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The Maria Grzegorzewska University
Submission date: 2020-09-06
Final revision date: 2021-03-13
Publication date: 2021-06-18
Polish Sociological Review 2021;214(2):261-276
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The goal of the paper is to analyze how members of Polish society perceive young people (around
30 years of age) and old people (over 65), their social and cultural capital, their position in society, and the roles
they should play in private and public life before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Polish society is aging and
the birth rate is low. Analysis demonstrates that certain opinions about the old and young are common among
Polish citizens and the factors that in other countries differentiate opinions in this regard do not do so in Poland.
The image of older people is based on stereotypes. Young people in particular believe that seniors should not be
active on the labor market or in politics but should provide informal help to the young generation in the private
sphere. The young generation is more individualistically oriented, while older people are more concerned with
the collective.
FUNDING
The research for this article was supported by a grant from the National Science Centre, Poland, project no. 2016/21//B/HS6/03199.