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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Changes in the Standard of Living in the EU Member States between 2005 and 2012, with Particular Emphasis on Poland and the Czech Republic

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This chapter is dedicated to the issues relating to changes in the standard of living recorded in 25 EU countries, in particular in Poland and the Czech Republic. Given the availability of comparable and relevant statistical data, the standard of living was studied between 2005 and 2012. The study was conducted with the use of taxonomic method – Hellwig’s synthetic measure. The results indicated that in 2012 Poland and the Czech Republic recorded a growth in the standard of living compared to 2005. Between 2005 and 2008, Poland was in the group of countries with a relatively low standard of living. It was not until the 2012, that it entered the group of countries with a moderate standard of living, and was placed on the 20th position in the ranking of 25 countries. Faster (compared to Poland) transition to a higher class caused that finally in 2012 the Czech Republic was placed on the 11th position in the ranking of 25 countries, and on the 2nd position in the group of countries with a moderate standard of living. Undoubtedly, the improvement of living standards in both countries was affected by measures taken under the EU cohesion policy. It was associated with a specified stream of funding flowing into the new EU members. Poland was the main beneficiary of these funds, although after translating the quotas into the amounts per capita it turned out that only in the first programming period (2004 - 2006) funds per capita were higher for Poland than for the Czech Republic.