When Will UK Living Standards Slip Behind Poland?

A look at the relative success of the UK and Polish economies. Why Poles are returning to Poland.

00:00 Poland to overtake UK
2:43 Strengths Poland Economy
4:10 Problems UK Economy
5:24 Brexit
7:48 Polish Population
9:14 UK Housing Crisis
10:01 Problems Facing Poland

2nd upload. Sorry to those who commented on first video.

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ABOUT
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[jamesgeorge]

I told my polish colleague he would be better off returning to Poland and investing there because there would be better opportunities in his homeland if the UK economy faced a financial crisis, that was in 2007! He looked at me like I was crazy...I heard he went back around 2012. Hope life is good back there my friend.

[dytiscusmarginalis]

as a Polish person it stressess me out, everytime in history we are getting back on our feet and experiancing some kind of success local powers attack us or destabilize our country in some way and we go into huge crisis. We must be extremely vigilant now not to repeat mistakes from the past 😬

[comments]

When the Polish complain about British migrants, that'll be the day.

[TarrelScot]

Hi. Half-Polish, born and raised in the UK. I just got back from visiting family in Poland last week. Whatever the stats say, from my perception, I have to say that living standards are already higher in Poland, qualitatively speaking. Towns and cities are thriving, with a positive vibe. Prices are relatively low, with some critical costs (such as public transport) being particularly affordable. Even down in Silesia, where my family live, everything seems to be thriving. (Silesia is kind of the equivalent of South Wales; history of coal mining and heavy industry, much of which has declined or shut down in recent years, with associated negative social impact).
I have to say the Polish economy is underpinned by a very strong work ethic and rock-solid family values, both of which seem to be sadly lacking in the UK just now.

[itsjustme]

tbh having recently vistited both the UK and Poland, it already feels and looks like Poland is richer (apart from Zone 1 in London ofc).

[beatonthedonis]

Poland has always been a dynamic society and economy - precisely why the Germans and Russians tried to keep it down/eradicate it for centuries.

[dobcsek]

I’m Hungarian but I’m leaving. When I came here many years ago, the UK was dynamic, most of my friends were either Europeans or Australians. I made more money than in Hungary or France (where I was living before coming to London). I didn’t mind the quality of housing, the mediocre food and the rather gloomy weather because London had such an amazing vibe and the positives outweighed the negatives. Fast forward 16 years, salaries are stagnating, prices skyrocketed, taxes have grown and loads of Europeans & Australians left and got replaced by…..different cultures that I am unable to relate to. Streets are less safe and the London nightlife is nonexistent. I’m sure London will flourish one day but I think its best days are behind us for now.

[xlogic]

As a Pole, I can say that Poland's economic prosperity was partially supported by the UK, for which we are grateful. I know many people who emigrated to the UK when Poland joined the EU and were able to kickstart their careers there. They earned money and later returned to start businesses here. Reflecting on my own professional career, I have worked for multiple UK companies over the years, and I still work remotely for one today. Stay strong, UK—you will bounce back!

[jakubbinkowski]

Remember when 15 years ago I've first moved in it was border line embarrassing to say You're coming from Poland...English people was looking down on us because of accent for them We were portrayed as dumb but in reality it was our second language and most of brits don't even now English properly😂 Now it's not the case anymore, personally I do think Poland is a better place to live than vast majority of UK because of modern infrastructure, all round tidyness and efficiency of services I would add as well choice in the shops. You go to any builders merchants or even supermarkets and You have got nearly whatever You want as an option and here its either cheap, mid range or expensive and that's with everything 🤷

[bingo]

Living in Serbia, Poland's economy is a huge inspiration for us. Back in the days Yugoslavia was ahead of many eastern communist countries due to the relatively liberal economic policies. Today Serbia is unfortunately lagging behind Poland and receiving little money from EU funds, as well as facing several obstacles in terms of industry and transport.

[ps-dnce]

Over the last twenty years, I travelled between Poland and the UK a dozen times each year. I can tell you that those statistics are meaningless to me. The standard of living in Poland is already higher than in the UK!

[vonder]

Coming to the uk to study from Poland and not leaving the country when I could is one of my big regrets. Would already have multiple properties and pay 9 percent tax instead of almost 50 in the uk. The standards of living in Poland are higher than in the uk. Actually young people in the uk are much poorer than those in Poland, living in rented rooms until they are 40 and earning enough money just to pay for that room, sturbucks coffee and maybe cheap holidays once a year. Yet many British still look down on us in their dump rented rooms believing that they are “rich”. Undoubtedly Britain has a great history and was once the most powerful country but it’s long gone now, once playing in the same league with USA now it’s being surpassed by Eastern European countries. And what they do? Increase taxes even further 😂 and I don’t say that with satisfaction, but with sadness and regret. Living in the uk is like being stuck on the first gear - the salaries are low but even if you make it you are taxed so much that it’s not worth the effort. Combine this with astronomical costs of living and you get the perfect storm.

[christopherhumphrys]

Import third world become third world. Poland has done the complete opposite

[BoredomIncarnate]

Haven't they already fallen below Poland?

When I went to university, a fair number of my classmates were from Poland and were very open about how bad it was there.

In the past few years, nearly all of them have returned to Poland and are doing very well there.

[nikonnikiforoff]

Poland hasn't imported the third world, that's their strength. Productive people with European culture are leaving UK.

[meshuga]

I’m Polish and returned back from Singapore after 8 years abroad. I found a great job for my experience and specialization (building IT infrastructure management software), not available anywhere else. Quality of life is high, economy is healthy and level of digitalization is one of best in the world. I cannot imagine a better place for me right now.

I spent two weeks traveling across UK back in June and I find little to no differences between UK and Poland, except the first one being more expensive. Just that work wise, it’s hard to find an interesting work or often any work at all. Because of that, many of my friends in UK don’t work, so with this attitude, tables can turn sooner.

[GWAYGWAY]

I would rather have the Polish worker than a motley load of people from other parts of the world😊.

[FranktheHedgehog-uz]

My father in law was Polish. My son once told me my wife and he and my other children may be eligible for a Polish Passport by ancestry. With increasing UK government criminality corruption and incompetence Poland looks an attractive place to retire. I have a company pension to look forward to and own property and stocks and shares. The inheritance tax threshold is higher and taxes are lower and there would be plenty of job opportunities for my children two of them being Civil Engineering apprentices

[formxshape]

I’m English… I really want to move to Poland.

[bognagruba]

My Polish husband worked in England for 5 months in 2007. He was surprised, how British economy could even function with the native workers being so slow and inefficient. His English boss was like "Don't you Poles teach us capitalism'. Do they even remember that they gave their ally to Stalin and that it took us 45 years to break free?