Pension systems' reforms are often related to a shift towards (fully or partially) defined contribution (DC) systems, in which the pension distribution reflects to a larger extent the wage distribution. In addition, relatively shorter working lives of those who have lower earnings increase the risk of receiving lower benefits. The aim of the paper is to present the changing role of a minimum pension as a tool of redistribution in the country that replaced a defined benefit (DB) pension system with a DC pension system. The old system in Poland had a significant income redistribution in the pension formula and the minimum pension was only a tool supporting this redistribution. After the introduction of the new mandatory pension system the main mechanism of redistribution (and a tool of social policy preventing poverty) is the minimum pension, financed from general taxes. According to the current rule of indexation, the minimum pension is expected to fall relative to the average wage in the economy. According to our simulations, the lack of changes of the current indexation method means that the minimum pension will fall below the International Labour Organisation (ILO) standard of the poverty protection of elderly by mid 2020s and in practice the last instrument of the poverty protection of elderly is going to disappear. However, the sole decision to change the indexation mechanism to the one based on full wage can create a significant pressure on public finance and distort incentives for prolonging work as 45% of women would be probably covered by the minimum pension guarantee (MPG). Results of simulations show that a raise and equalization of the retirement age for men and women combined with keeping a constant ratio of the minimum pension to the average (and also minimum) wage in the economy can be considered as a balanced solution that assures no further reduction of poverty protection and effective maintaining of this redistribution instrument.

The Covid-19 pandemic caused lockdown of economies, which in turn led to the worsening of the economic situation of many households. During the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic governments undertook various measures to support economies and societies, including jobs protection along with financial support provision to people who suffered financial loss during the economic crisis. We analyse the economic situation of older Europeans, depending on their socio-economic status as well as country of residence characteristics, including economic and labour market changes during the first phase of the pandemic, the strictness of government policies but also the country development level using the Human Development Index. We use the results of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), including the SHARE Corona Telephone Survey, which was conducted during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our results indicate that individual characteristics have a higher impact on individual economic stress, compared to country characteristics. However, country’s response to the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also the overall level of development influences the economic situation and ability to cope with the economic risks people aged 50 and over face. People in more developed countries have smaller difficulties in making ends meet, while the economic crisis and more stringent policies reduce chances to receive financial support and increase economic risks.

The paper shows the impact of changes in multi-pillar pension systems in six Central and Eastern European countries for individual pension wealth. It demonstrates that the post-crisis changes in pension system reduced pension wealth of workers in Poland and increased in Lithuania and Slovakia. The change did not have significant impact on pension wealth in Estonia and Romania. The magnitude of this effect is highest in those countries where the reduction of the fully-funded pension contribution was permanent. Loss or gain in pension wealth varies with age of participants – it is higher for younger people, who will accumulate their pension wealth to a larger extent after the change. The level of the change in pension wealth depends also on the wage level – higher earners lose more relative to the average wage level. The difference in pension wealth depends also on the difference between rates of return in fully funded and pay-as-you-go (PAYG) components of the pension system. The net outcome of post-crisis pension system modifications depends both on the magnitude of fully-funded contribution reduction, but also on the design of PAYG component and the way individual pension rights are accrued. These results indicate the rise in implicit liability of pension system in Slovakia to be higher than the reduction of the explicit liability caused by the pension system change and the lower rise of implicit liability in Poland and Latvia.

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are an essential part of economies at the national, regional, and local levels. Understanding the determinants of the development of this sector is interesting not only for researchers but also for local governments to support the development of this sector. This paper analyses micro, small, and medium enterprises at the gmina (local) level in one region, the Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodship (NUTS2) in Poland. The authors use multivariate linear regression, spatial econometrics, and classification trees to model the influence of different factors on the number of enterprises relative to population size. The authors found that the most crucial factor in all cases, independently of the method used, is the local government’s revenue from personal income tax per capita. This finding, together with the lack of significance of variables related to the distance to technological parks or economic zones, indicates that the enterprises in the region produce mainly for local consumption and lack innovativeness. The authors also examined the influence of spatial context on the number of enterprises. The most important factor seems to be the percentage of built-up areas, but there are also others, depending on the model type; again, this confirms the local character of the activity of micro, small, and medium enterprises in the region. Variables representing the spatial context can explain the relative number of enterprises with coefficient of determination (R²) between 0.30 and 0.45, which shows that this context played a relatively significant role in the development of the MSME sector in the region. On the other hand, the econometric models (that include the neighborhood) are only significant (improving R2) for medium enterprises, which means that medium enterprises expand their activity beyond the local range.

Background: Although the data on psoriasis epidemiology included in the Global Psoriasis Atlas (GPA) provide valuable information on psoriasis prevalence worldwide, the GPA database is still incomplete. Therefore, the aim of the study was to assess the prevalence, incidence, and mortality rates of psoriasis and its types in Poland based on the data registered by the National Health Fund (NHF). Methods: The study included psoriasis patients registered at least twice in the Polish NHF database between 2010 and 2023. Results: At the end of 2023, 639,662 living psoriasis patients had been registered in the Polish NHF database, which constituted 1.70% of the Polish general population. The percentage of female psoriasis patients was found to be higher (54.95%) than male patients (45.05%). Of all the Polish NHF‐registered psoriasis patients, plaque psoriasis affected 95.66%, pustular psoriasis 3.05%, psoriatic arthritis 7.20%, and guttate psoriasis 0.27%. In comparison to the general Polish population, psoriasis prevalence was observed to be lower in children (0.84%). The all‐cause mortality rate among psoriasis patients was found to be higher in comparison to the general Polish population, with a higher mortality rate noted in male psoriasis patients. Conclusions: The NHF database we studied suggests a direct relationship between the prevalence, incidence, and all‐cause mortality rates in psoriasis and patients' age and sex. However, the study also revealed a decrease in mortality rates and a slow increase in the prevalence of psoriasis in the Polish population, which calls for further studies.