Only Children in Poland: Demographic, Social, and Educational Consequences

Beata Stachowiak

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12

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Only Children in Poland: Demographic, Social, and Educational Consequences

Beata Stachowiak

Published in Social Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 2)

Published: 2 April 2013

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Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to present the population of “only children” in Poland and address the poss-ible effects of very low fertility for the functioning of the family, society, education system, and the only children them-selves. This analysis is based primarily on statistics published by government institutions such the Central Statistical Office of Poland, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Ministry of Finance, etc. In Poland, as in other developed countries, a decrease in fertility can be observed. As a result, only children are a fast-growing group among children and adolescents. Due to changes to the definition of a family, the definition of an only child is also under transformation. Thus, the term “only child” can now refer to more and more people. Currently, the group of only children accounts for about 50% of all children. Data and demographic projections both for the population of only children and for fertility in Poland indicate that in the next few years the situation will worsen. This raises challenges on demographic grounds, as the substitutability of generations is not only threatened, but it is also not assured. Also, pedagogy becomes a field of trial, especially in terms of the education of children and in terms of preparing adults to be parents of an only child. New problems arise on a social basis in terms of providing care for the elderly and the functioning of pension systems. The growing population of only children also implies the need for new research in the field of social sciences and humanities.

Published in	Social Sciences (Volume 2, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12
Page(s)	34-38
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2013. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Only Child; Society, Poland, Demography; Pedagogy

References

[1]	J. Pitkeathley, D. Emerson, Only Child. How to Survive Being One, Warszawa: Agencja Wydawnicza Jacek Santorski & Co: 2007.
[2]	Demographic Yearbook of Poland 2012, Warszawa: GUS 2012.
[3]	The World Factbook, available on the Internet: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2127rank.html.
[4]	T. Falbo, Your One and Only. Educational psychologist dispels myths surrounding only children [online], available on the Internet: http://www.utexas.edu/features/archive/ 2004/single.html.
[5]	Understanding Society. Tracking the lives and attitudes of 40,000 households [online], available on the Internet: https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/understanding-society.
[6]	D. Downey, Siblings help children get along with others in kindergarten [online], available on the Internet: http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/socskill.htm.
[7]	M. Grose, Why First-Born rule the World and Last-Born want to change it, Australia: Radom House 2003.
[8]	J. Rembowski, Jedynactwo dzieci w domu i w szkole, Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich 1975.
[9]	J. Śledzianowski, Jedynak w życiu małżeńskim i w rodzinie, Kielce: Agencja Wydawniczo-Poligraficzna "Rubikon" 1992.
[10]	M. Tyszkowa, Badania nad uspołecznieniem i osobowością dzieci jedynych i mających rodzeństwo, In: Rozwój dziecka w rodzinie i poza nią, pod. red M. Tyszkowej, Poznań: UAM, Poznań 1985, p. 53.
[11]	The message from CBOS studies, SB/61/2012, Reproductive needs and preferred and implemented family model, available on the Internet: http://www.cbos.pl/SPISKOM.POL/2012/K_061_12.PDF.
[12]	S. Newman, Parenting an Only Child: The Joys and Challenges of Raising Your One and Only, New York: Broadway Books 1990.
[13]	M. Pęczak, Adrenalina pokoleń, Arkadia No 8/2000.
[14]	Education in 2011/2012 School Year, Warszawa 2012, available on the Internet: http://www.stat.gov.pl/cps/rde/xbcr/gus/e_oswiata_i_wychowanie_2011-2012.pdf.
[15]	K. Czaczkowska, Czy żeńskie klasztory opusztoszeją? [online], "Rzeczpospolita", available on the Internet: http://www.rp.pl/artykul/804402-Czy-zenskie-klasztory-opustoszeja.htm.

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APA Style

Beata Stachowiak. (2013). Only Children in Poland: Demographic, Social, and Educational Consequences. Social Sciences, 2(2), 34-38. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12

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ACS Style

Beata Stachowiak. Only Children in Poland: Demographic, Social, and Educational Consequences. Soc. Sci. 2013, 2(2), 34-38. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12

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AMA Style

Beata Stachowiak. Only Children in Poland: Demographic, Social, and Educational Consequences. Soc Sci. 2013;2(2):34-38. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12,
  author = {Beata Stachowiak},
  title = {Only Children in Poland: Demographic, Social, and Educational Consequences},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {2},
  number = {2},
  pages = {34-38},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20130202.12},
  abstract = {The main purpose of this article is to present the population of “only children” in Poland and address the poss-ible effects of very low fertility for the functioning of the family, society, education system, and the only children them-selves. This analysis is based primarily on statistics published by government institutions such the Central Statistical Office of Poland, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Ministry of Finance, etc. In Poland, as in other developed countries, a decrease in fertility can be observed. As a result, only children are a fast-growing group among children and adolescents. Due to changes to the definition of a family, the definition of an only child is also under transformation. Thus, the term “only child” can now refer to more and more people. Currently, the group of only children accounts for about 50% of all children. Data and demographic projections both for the population of only children and for fertility in Poland indicate that in the next few years the situation will worsen. This raises challenges on demographic grounds, as the substitutability of generations is not only threatened, but it is also not assured. Also, pedagogy becomes a field of trial, especially in terms of the education of children and in terms of preparing adults to be parents of an only child. New problems arise on a social basis in terms of providing care for the elderly and the functioning of pension systems. The growing population of only children also implies the need for new research in the field of social sciences and humanities.},
 year = {2013}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Only Children in Poland: Demographic, Social, and Educational Consequences
AU - Beata Stachowiak
Y1 - 2013/04/02
PY - 2013
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12
DO - 10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12
T2 - Social Sciences
JF - Social Sciences
JO - Social Sciences
SP - 34
EP - 38
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2326-988X
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12
AB - The main purpose of this article is to present the population of “only children” in Poland and address the poss-ible effects of very low fertility for the functioning of the family, society, education system, and the only children them-selves. This analysis is based primarily on statistics published by government institutions such the Central Statistical Office of Poland, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Ministry of Finance, etc. In Poland, as in other developed countries, a decrease in fertility can be observed. As a result, only children are a fast-growing group among children and adolescents. Due to changes to the definition of a family, the definition of an only child is also under transformation. Thus, the term “only child” can now refer to more and more people. Currently, the group of only children accounts for about 50% of all children. Data and demographic projections both for the population of only children and for fertility in Poland indicate that in the next few years the situation will worsen. This raises challenges on demographic grounds, as the substitutability of generations is not only threatened, but it is also not assured. Also, pedagogy becomes a field of trial, especially in terms of the education of children and in terms of preparing adults to be parents of an only child. New problems arise on a social basis in terms of providing care for the elderly and the functioning of pension systems. The growing population of only children also implies the need for new research in the field of social sciences and humanities.
VL - 2
IS - 2
ER -

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Author Information

Beata Stachowiak

The Political Studies and International Relations Faculty, Torun, Poland

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Beata Stachowiak. (2013). Only Children in Poland: Demographic, Social, and Educational Consequences. Social Sciences, 2(2), 34-38. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Beata Stachowiak. Only Children in Poland: Demographic, Social, and Educational Consequences. Soc. Sci. 2013, 2(2), 34-38. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Beata Stachowiak. Only Children in Poland: Demographic, Social, and Educational Consequences. Soc Sci. 2013;2(2):34-38. doi: 10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12,
  author = {Beata Stachowiak},
  title = {Only Children in Poland: Demographic, Social, and Educational Consequences},
  journal = {Social Sciences},
  volume = {2},
  number = {2},
  pages = {34-38},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ss.20130202.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20130202.12},
  abstract = {The main purpose of this article is to present the population of “only children” in Poland and address the poss-ible effects of very low fertility for the functioning of the family, society, education system, and the only children them-selves. This analysis is based primarily on statistics published by government institutions such the Central Statistical Office of Poland, Ministry of National Education, Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Ministry of Finance, etc. In Poland, as in other developed countries, a decrease in fertility can be observed. As a result, only children are a fast-growing group among children and adolescents. Due to changes to the definition of a family, the definition of an only child is also under transformation. Thus, the term “only child” can now refer to more and more people. Currently, the group of only children accounts for about 50% of all children. Data and demographic projections both for the population of only children and for fertility in Poland indicate that in the next few years the situation will worsen. This raises challenges on demographic grounds, as the substitutability of generations is not only threatened, but it is also not assured. Also, pedagogy becomes a field of trial, especially in terms of the education of children and in terms of preparing adults to be parents of an only child. New problems arise on a social basis in terms of providing care for the elderly and the functioning of pension systems. The growing population of only children also implies the need for new research in the field of social sciences and humanities.},
 year = {2013}
}

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