Poles aged 30 – portrayed, but accurately?

From time to time journalists of Gazeta.pl (online flank of Agora S.A., one of the most influential, leftist-liberal, media holdings in Poland) come up with series of articles dwelling on social problems. Quite recently two of them encouraged readers of the portal, aged near 30, to share with wider audience how their dwellings looked and what their material status in terms of housing conditions was. I usually keep track of such series with some does of curiosity, but that time I impatiently waited for each consecutive article, then read each of them with bated breath and avidly followed record-long comment threads…

The larger project run in attempt to paint a collective portrait of generation of 30-year-old Poles began by posing a question why people born in early 1980s are reluctant to have children. In the next step journalists resolved to find out where and how those people live and how the finance their housing needs.

The first article is a string of brief stories which paint a bitter-sweet picture…

Kaśka, aged 32, and her husband co-rent a room in a bigger flat. It’s cheaper and more practical, yet at times inconvenient. Their salaries would suffice to rent a tiny flat in a shanty town, but they prefer a 20-metre room in a flat shared with other people. Tensions sometimes appear, but when they are in need, they may count on their flatmates. In the meantime they put aside money to have equity and get mortgage on more favourable conditions. As for now, no bank finds them creditworthy. Purchase of property with cash – out of reach.

Błażej, aged 30, lives with his girlfriend in her 42 sqm flat (probably inherited or bought by her parents, photo suggests it’s located in Służew, part of Mokotów district, Warsaw). Given his girlfriend’s and his earnings, they wouldn’t be capable to service any mortgage debt, nor to rent any flat. Their aspirations have been fulfilled. Probably hadn’t it been for the windfall (his girlfriend’s own flat), they would live with parents…

Agata, aged 31, and her husband live in a mortgaged flat. Shortly after getting married they lived in a rented flat, then when a child’s birth was imminent, they took out a loan. Month by month, they move closer towards “full ownership” of their flat.

Piotrek, aged 30, and his wife, with some support of their parents and bank financing, bought a 70 sqm on city fringes. In his view this was a fair trade-off between location and size. Debt burden is not excessive and the flat would be spacious enough when children are born.

Anka, aged 29, is also one of those better-off. Since she was 20 she lived in flats inherited after family, currently she and her husband live in a house built on a plot donated to them by husband’s parents. She’d be damned if she dared to complain about her housing conditions.

The stories above bring a moderate dose of optimism. All character manage, some better, some worse, but are satisfied with what the have and keep cheerful. When you begin to read next sent in pieces, smile is immediately wiped off you face…

Sferyczna, single woman, aged 30. Lives in Warsaw, but hails from provincial Poland. Worked for a while abroad, but has not managed to save any money. Currently rents a tiny room in a tiny flat and estimates is 5 years will be eligible for a mortgage. Interestingly, she claims to earn more than peanuts and still she declares she can afford very little…

Karolina, aged 31, and Marcin, aged 36, have one child and live in an old flat that could do with a comprehensive refurbishment. Mortgage is a huge burden for them, each unplanned expenditure or a second child would blow over their budget. Loan instalments make up more than half of their income – this speaks for itself…

Next piece contains two contrary opinions. Rafał, aged 31, and his wife wonder whether only grumblers are around. He wants his voice to be audible. Instead of grumbling his wife and he toil away up to 60 hours per week, have built a house and bring up two daughters. Not a word about any mortgage, but he mentions his father who runs a prosperous company. Despite having little spare time, he claims he is happy and encourages to sheer hard work, which, as he believes is a key to the door of financial and personal success.

Marek, aged 27, has co-rented a flat since coming to Warsaw 5 years ago. With his earnings, little more than 2,000 PLN after tax, he can only afford to rent a small flat and pay maintenance charges, this all sets him back some 1,500 PLN – after this he has 600 PLN to spend on food, travels, clothes, entertainment??? He sees future in anything, but bright colours – with his earnings he stands no chance to get a mortgage and own any property…

Need something upbeat, don’t continue reading… A 30-year-old single woman has just bought her own flat. The mortgage and refurbishment loans have both 23-year repayment schedules, but her own flat is a step forward after years of renting and sinking money to landlord’s pocket. Living conditions are pretty dire, but glimmers of hope bring about smile on her face. In a few months the flat will be finished. As for now, she saves on everything, including food and scrapes along, to service debt timely…

Another confession, written by a 29-year-old man. He works in a public sector, is employed for a finite period and earns minimum wage. No chance to move out of parents’ house, even to rent anything. No prospects of becoming self-supporting, of raising family, no feeling of stability. He’s angry with those who stigmatise his peers who keep living with parents. In fact many of them do this not out of fear of taking responsibility for their lives, of facing adulthood, etc., but they stick to their parents for purely financial reasons. When earning 1,500 PLN after tax, attempt to taste independence is like being thrown at the deep end… Hopes for future… None… just prospects of barely getting by…

Not yet miserable? Carry on! A 31-year-old single woman has a single-bedroom mortgaged flat, but she and her daughter live with her parents. The graduate of Polish studies and Journalism, since finishing school changed jobs many times. Each was supposed to have been temporary, before she found something more desirable. In 2010, with support of her parents and a bank she bought a flat. Soon after she was offered a new job, left the previous, well-paid one, and eventually was left out in the cold, because the new employer changed its mind. Never jobless, she had next temporary, poorly-paid jobs which allowed her to pay bills and mortgage instalments. A year after it turned out she was pregnant with a man who turned out to be too irresponsible to fulfil role of a father. To make ends meet, she moved to her parents and lets her flat to repay the mortgage… She wipes every night and slowly is losing hope for a better tomorrow…

Let’s face it – those letters have been picked out of several sent in to Gazeta.pl’s editorial room. The picture of the generation which emerges is a matter of who and on the basis of what criteria chooses which letters to publish.

More interesting are plentiful comment threads under the articles, counting several hundred entries. Comments can be divided into a few categories…

Predictably, quite a few commentators trot out the “young, educated, from big cities” myth – they argue the depicted misery bears a truthful testimony how in fact the “Green Island” looks like and what the youngsters got from the party they had voted for. How long before people realise politicians’ influence on people’s everyday is much smaller than they claim? Misery of many young people can’t be put down to “feckless rule of losers and traitors”, while if the biggest oppositional party came to power, it wouldn’t turn Poland into a land of milk and honey. Society and economy are driven by actions of millions of individuals, not by decisions and deeds of few politicians. They don’t have power to heal the country and, on the other side, have little power to screw things up. If I were to be malicious, I could say between 2005 and 2007 property prices in Poland soared by almost 100%, hence becoming less affordable.

Some commentators point out those stories do not hold water – why somebody takes out a loan and than changes a job, for a worse-paid one, how some of mortgage instalments calculations match with what somebody has left at their discretion, etc.? Some even claim the stories sound so incredulously that they appear concocted.

The more ruthless advise authors of the letter who take pity on themselves to blame themselves, not the rest of the world. Who made them choose dead-end studies? Who precluded them from working harder? Who told them to change jobs several times?

Other group indicate young Poles have over-inflated expectations regarding consumption and earnings, while it takes time to grow into wealth. The only way to consume more than you can afford to is living beyond means, which means living with a ball and chain in form of debts and praying luck streak doesn’t cease, as then the frail wealth collapses.

For my part – I have no right to complain… I’m better of in comparison to some 99% of my peers. I don’t live in my own flat, but this is only my choice – I can afford to rent or take out a mortgage, but since there’s no pressure to move out I keep living in my parents’ house (and give them little money each month) and put aside some 70% of my salary. I earn very decently and have prospects of even higher earnings, but on the other hand at the back of my hand there’s a seed of uncertainty – my employer knows how to send adrenaline rising and having seen people being fired (with 1-day notice and generous severance packages) I realise no matter how committed I am, one I day I can have an inadvertent slip-up or my employer may change strategy and back out of business segment I work at, resulting in my job contract being terminated. I have job contract for indefinite period and well-above national average salary, but in return am offered no stability. I don’t go mad with the awareness each day might be the last day of my work only because I don’t have to provide for a family and have no debts to settle.

I’m also far from sharing opinions of those telling those unhappy people to blame only themselves. Success, not only financial, is a combination of many factors, including parentage (if your parents are wealthy, you’re better off at the start), skills (many are inborn I believe, you may develop them or not, but if you really lack a specific skill, developing it won’t get you far), hard work (inborn skills without hard work are useless) and luck… Every day I happen to realise where I am now and what I do is just a stroke of fate… Of course I can’t pronounce it’s prudent to take dead-end studies in political sciences, change jobs frequently, or get pregnant with an immature man, but in some cases people are inarguably out of luck and telling them to blame themselves proves only lack of empathy. Not everyone has a chance to be born in the capital city, in well-off family, to have educated parents. Most people have it up-hill and in Poland I can’t honestly say others have it downhill.

I recently calculated, with my above-average earnings and possibility to put aside most of my salary, if I was to start saving from scratch now, I’d have to save for 6 years to buy an average 50 sqm flat in Warsaw, assuming property prices stayed unchanged. Some time ago I read an average Pole would have to save for 11 years their whole salary to buy such flat. Imagine this – live with your parents for 11 years, let them feed you, don’t buy clothes, cosmetics, don’t go out, don’t travel and after 11 years you can buy a flat for cash. If your parents can’t support you financially you can only take out a huge burden on your back and pray nothing goes wrong along the way. How young Poles live is an aftermath of still steep, in comparison to earnings, property prices in Poland. As many market specialist claim, only increased supply of dwellings could help solve this problem – this can be achieved in form of public-private partnerships – local governments building in partnership with property developers council flats for rent. But for this you need a proper legal framework and wise and honest people to run such schemes. Out of reach, just like own flat for an average Pole turning 30…

Apologies in advance for taking a break from blogging next week. I’m holidaying… At last :-)