A Structural Equation Modeling Approach to Study Social Exclusion in Poland

Abstract:

The phenomenon of social exclusion brings many negative consequences not only from the microeconomic perspective affecting individuals, but also it is of crucial importance from the macroeconomic perspective of social stability and policies affecting long term growth. Within this context the current research aims to provide deeper inside into relationships between social exclusion, life satisfaction, trust in institutions and households income in Poland. As investigated phenomena are mostly unobservable and multidimensional ones, which are significantly affected also by psychological factors, we decided to apply the Structural Equation Methodology (SEM). The analysis was run based on the data for Poland taken from the Fourth European Quality of Life Surveys (EQLS 2016). The research confirmed some negative factors such as an increase in social tensions, and negative attitude of Polish society towards an increase in income disparities and participation in benefits form economic growth. The obtained empirical outcome can be used in the process of building national and regional strategies supporting sustainable long term growth not only for Poland, but they can be used as benchmark results for other Central and Eastern European Economies.