Health and lifestyle

BMI (Body Mass Index) – body weight monitoring index that represents the relationship between body mass and height, calculated using the formula:

BMI = body mass (kg) / height (cm)² / 10 000

For adults, there are four weight categories:
• normal weight (BMI: 18,50–24,99),
• underweight (BMI⩽18,49) – a state of insufficient body mass,
• overweight (BMI: 25,00-29,99) – abnormal or excessive fat accumulation, posing a threat to human life and health,
• obesity (BMi⩾30,00) – abnormal or excessive fat accumulation, posing a threat to human life and health; obesity is a chronic disease caused by an excessive supply of energy in food relative to the body's requirements; obesity is most commonly associated with numerous complications involving the cardiovascular system and other organs.

Juniors – all persons practicing sport who are not seniors, i.e. juniors, younger juniors, sub-juniors and children; there is no definitive age limit for this category of competitors because it might be different in particular kinds of sports and even in each sports event within one type of sport.

Member of sports club – a person who possess a valid membership card of a club or who complies with other definite requirements, if the club has accepted other rules of membership.

Modern-age diseases – also called 21st-century diseases; according to the WHO definition, these are global, commonly occurring chronic diseases whose development and spread is caused by the progress of modern civilization and a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental, and behavioral factors; they include diseases of the circulatory system, malignant tumors, respiratory diseases, and diabetes, among others

Recreational activity – the form of physical activity, connected with sport, undertaken for active leisure and regeneration of psychophysical strength.

Self-perceived health – general, not current health status. It covers the different dimensions of health, i.e. physical, social and emotional functioning and biomedical signs and symptoms. It omits any reference to age. Self-perceived of health status is researched by the Statistics Poland as a part of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC).

Sports club – a basic organizational unit running sports activity which acts as a legal person.

Gaining knowledge

Broad field of education – fields of education classified according to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED-F 2013). According to ISCED-F 2013 there is 11 broad fields of education.

Doctoral programmes – functioning until 31 December 2023, programmes preparing for obtaining the degree of doctor (Ph.D.), conferred by an authorized academic unit of a higher education institution, scientific institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Polska Akademia Nauk), a research institute or an international scientific institute established under other legislation and active on the territory of the Republic of Poland, which are open to holders of second cycle qualification and leading upon a successful completion to the award of a third cycle qualification.

Doctoral school – organized form of doctoral education operating from the 2019/2020 academic year provided by authorized universities and institutes in at least two fields of arts or sciences; doctoral education prepares for obtaining a Ph.D. degree and ends with the submission of a doctoral thesis.

Early leavers from education and training (aged 18-24) – percentage of the population aged 18-24 who have completed at most lower secondary education and are not in any further education or training (in the total population of the same age group).

Graduate – person who has graduated from the highest grade of a given school programme and obtained a school certificate from that establishment (applies to graduates of schools covered by the educational system).

A graduate of a higher education institution obtains a tertiary education diploma in a given field and profile of study, confirming the award of:
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent certifying tertiary education on completion of the first-cycle programme;
• Master's degree or equivalent certifying tertiary education on completion of the second-cycle and long-cycle programmes.

Non-degree postgraduate programmes – a level of education open to holders of first-cycle qualifications and provided by a higher education institution, scientific institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, research institute or the Centre for Postgraduate Medical Studies (Centrum Medyczne Kształcenia Podyplomowego), leading upon successful completion to the award of postgraduate qualifications.

PISA survey – Programme for International Student Assessment supervised by OECD; the purpose of PISA is to measure the ability to apply knowledge acquired at school and beyond school in three fields: reading literacy, mathematics and science knowledge; the survey covers randomly drawn students aged 15-16 years. The survey is conducted every three or four years since 2000.

Scientific degree – the degree of doctor (Ph.D.), the degree of habilitated doctor in a specified field of science or field of science within a specified scientific or artistic discipline. Scientific degrees are conferred in the organizational units which are authorized to confer them.

Scientific title – the title of professor in a specified field of science or a specified field of art conferred by the President of the Republic of Poland.

Economic activity

Economically active – persons who are considered as employed or unemployed (the labor force).

Economically inactive – persons who are not in the labor force and are not classified as either employed or unemployed.

Employment rate – share of the employed (either total or by a given category) in the total population (either total or by a given category).

Expected duration of working life – the estimated number of years that a person, at the current age of 15 years, is expected to be in the labour force throughout his or her life; the indicator is calculated based on the economic activity rate from the Labor Force Survey (LFS) and life tables.

Gender employment gap – the difference in the employment level between men and women within a specific age group, expressed as percentage points.

Gender pay gap – the difference between the average gross hourly earnings of men and women expressed as a percentage of the average gross hourly earnings of men.

High-tech sectors – include manufacturing classified as high technology and high-tech services characterized by high R&D intensity, meaning high expenditures on research and development (above 7% in relation to value added and production value).

Human Resources for Science and Technology (HRST) – all persons engaged in or able to engage in work related to the creation, development, spreading and applying science and technology.

Human Resource for Science and Technology – Core (HRSTC) – persons who have successfully completed a tertiary level education (ISCED 2011 levels 5-8) and are employed in Science and Technology (ISCO 2 and 3 occupation groups, i.e. professionals and technicians).

Persons with a specific situation on the labour market – in line with the Act of 20 April 2004 on promotion of employment and labour market institutions, include the unemployed:
• up to the age of 30,
• long-term,
• over the age of 50,
• getting social assistance benefits,
• having at least one child up to the age of 6 or at least one child with a disability up to the age of 18,
• being guardians of persons with disabilities, seeking employment.

Scientists and Engineers (SE) – within HRSTC, include professionals in physical, mathematical and technical sciences as well as health and information and communication technology specialists working in the field of science and technology.

Unemployment rate (LFS) – share of the unemployed (either total or by a given category) in the economically active population (either total or by a given category).

Decision-making and management

ICT Sector (information and communication technologies) – branch of the economy including business, which main activity is production of goods and services to enable electronic recording, processing, transmission, reproduction or display of the information.

Local government – a local governed community (in Poland for gmina, powiat or voivodship) legally established by residents of a given region as well as the corresponding area; their tasks are fulfilled with the aid of local government organs or mediated through common voting by the residents of the community (through elections and referendums).

Within the structure of local government in Poland, we distinguish:
• gmina local government – performs tasks through: council of the gmina (decision-making and controlling body) and the village mayor, mayor or president of a city (an executive body). Council of the gmina may create auxiliary units within the gmina, such as village administrator's offices; the legislative body of a village administrator's offices is village meeting, and the executive is the village administrator,
• powiat local government – performs tasks through: powiat council, which is the decision-making and controlling body and board of the powiat (with a starosta as a president) performing executive functions,
• voivodship local government – performs tasks through: voivodship regional council, which is the decision-making and controlling body composed of councillors and the board of the voivodship (with the marshal of the voivodship as a president) performing executive functions.

Non-profit sector – a group of all entities that are:
• organizations, that is, institutionalized to some extent;
• private, that is, institutionally separate from government;
• non-profit-distributing, that is, not returning profits generated to their owners or directors;
• self-governing, that is, able to control their own activities;
• voluntary, that is, non-compulsory and involving some meaningful degree of voluntary participation.

Autumn years

Active Ageing Index (AAI) is a synthetic measure of the untapped potential of older persons (aged 55-75) to participate in the economy, society and independent living. The AAI was obtained by aggregating scores from four domains i.e. employment; participation in society; independent, healthy and secure living; enabling environment for active aging. It has scores that range from 0 to 100; a higher figure pointing to a greater contribution to society by older people and better enabling conditions.

Biologically disabled person – a person, who does not have judgment, but feels constrained in the ability of performing basic activities for his/her age. A disabled person don't have to get legal confirmation (judgment) of his/her a biological disability.

Disabled person with legal confirmation – person, who has appropriate judgment: of the level of disability (considerable, moderate, slight) in the case of adults or of disability in the case of children under 16 years old, issued by a body, authorized to this.

Economic age groups of the population - population groups divided according to age of ability to work, among which are people of pre-working, working and post-working age:
• pre-working age - age at which people have not yet reached working ability, i.e. age group 0-17 years.
• working age - age of working ability, i.e. for men group of the age 18-64 years, for women - 18-59 years.
• post-working age - age at which people usually end their careers, i.e. for men - 65 years and more, for women - 60 years and more.

Geriatrics – medical specialty focused on the health issues of persons aged 60 and older. It is characterized by a comprehensive approach to treating diseases occurring in this age group.

Healthy life expectancy – predicted average number of years a person aged x will live without a disability, provided that the current conditions of mortality and loss of health of the population will remain at the current level.

Inpatient long-term health care is provided in general-profile chronic medical care homes and nursing homes as well as in psychiatric-profile chronic medical care homes and nursing homes. It is administered to patients with a diagnosed stable health condition and established treatment.

Life expectancy - the average number of years of life expected by a person at birth, assuming the mortality rate from the period for which the life expectancy table (describing theoretical process of population extinction as the population ages) was prepared.

Life expectancy at age - the average number of years of life expected by a person aged x, if subjected throughout the rest of his or her life to the current mortality conditions (age-specific probabilities of dying, i.e. the death rates observed for the current period).

Long-term care facilities - provide patients with round-the-clock nursing, caregiving, rehabilitation, as well as continued pharmacological and dietary treatment over an extended period.

People at risk of poverty or social exclusion - percent of persons who are at risk of poverty or severely materially deprived or living in households with very low work intensity.

Characteristics of selected surveys of Statistics Poland

European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) – the representative survey carried out every five years. In Poland that survey has conducted by Statistics Poland (GUS) since 2009. EHIS results provide data for comparisons between European Union countries. The objective of EHIS is to assess the health status of the Polish population, considering subjective assessments, both physical and mental. This survey covers topics such as the frequency of the most serious, long- term health problems (e.g. chronic diseases), the level of fitness and limitations in performing basic life activities, as well as emotional well-being and preventive care. The survey also allows monitoring selected aspects of both anti- and pro-heath behaviors, including sports activities, fruit and vegetable consumption, tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption.

European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) – an annual, representative survey conducted by Statistics Poland (GUS) since 2005. The main objective of EU-SILC is to provide data comparable to the EU countries on living conditions of the population in the broad sense. EU-SILC results provide information on income, poverty, materially deprivation, self-assessment of health, and selected aspects of social exclusion. EU-SILC also assumes the conduct of modular surveys, answering the current needs of the European Union institutions.

Labour Force Surveys (LFS) – the survey has been carried out by Statistics Poland (GUS) since 1992 and has been improved in accordance with Eurostat’s recommendations. The survey is conducted using a sample method, which allows generalization the results of the survey over the whole population. Since 2021, the survey has covered all persons aged 15-89 living in the sampled dwellings. The objective of this survey is to assess the situation in terms of economic activity of the population. The main criterion for dividing the population in terms of occupational activity, adopted in LFS, is work, i.e. the performing, holding or seeking of work. In accordance with the international standards, the total population can be divided into three basic categories: employed, unemployed, and economically inactive. The employed and unemployed constitute the population economically active.

National Census of Population and Housing – the main survey and source of data on population statistics, which aims to collect information on its state and structure according to established demographic and socio-occupational characteristics at a specific moment on a defined territory. Censuses cover the entire population and housing. This means that data obtained from a national census are derived from all citizens. Importantly, for many demographic and social characteristics, such as religion, nationality, or degree of disability, censuses are the only source of data for the state. Censuses are conducted approximately every 10 years, in accordance with recommendations and standards of international organizations such as the EU and the UN, enabling international comparisons.

Social Cohesion Survey – the representative questionnaire survey of individual households carried out by Statistics Poland (GUS) since 2011, every three to four years. The objective of the Social Cohesion Survey is to gather information that enables comprehensive assessments of the quality of life in the multidimensional context (considering economic and social aspects) through both objective and subjective indicators. The integration of individual data allows, among other things, the identification in which group of the population there is an accumulation of favorable or unfavorable aspects of quality of life, what factors determine these situations, and the relationships between different dimensions of quality of life. The wide range of collected information allows, among other things, a comprehensive assessment of the diversity of living standards and lifestyle, multidimensional analysis of poverty, social exclusion, social capital and subjective well-being.