Family Safety Nets and Economic Transition: A Study of Worker Households in Poland

Donald Cox (donald.cox@bc.edu), Emmanuel Jimenez and Wlodzimierz Okrasa
Additional contact information
Emmanuel Jimenez: World Bank

No 328., Boston College Working Papers in Economics from Boston College Department of Economics

Abstract: Can Eastern European families most severely impoverished during the transition to capitalism rely on private family safety nets? This question is likely critical for the transition's success, but little is known about family networks in Eastern Europe. We analyze newly available Polish household surveys, conducted both before and after Poland's economic transition, which measure private inter- household transfers. Such transfers are large and widespread in Poland, and in many ways they appear to function like means-tested public transfers. They flow from high to low-income households and are targeted to young couples, large families and those experiencing illness. Private transfer patterns also suggest that they are responsive to liquidity constraints. Our results from 1987 data indicate that private transfers could fill a non-trivial portion of the income gap left by unemployment. But we also find evidence from 1992 data that family networks weakened somewhat after the transition.

Keywords: Private transfers; public transfers; economic transition; socialism; altruism; Poland. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 D64 H23 H42 I38 O15 P35 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 1996-01-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
http://fmwww.bc.edu/EC-P/wp328.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: FAMILY SAFETY NETS AND ECONOMIC TRANSITION: A STUDY OF WORKER HOUSEHOLDS IN POLAND (1997)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:boc:bocoec:328

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Boston College Working Papers in Economics from Boston College Department of Economics Boston College, 140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill MA 02467 USA. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum (baum@bc.edu).