Attitudes toward Young and Old People and Their Place in Poland's Changing Society

Abstract

The goal of the paper is to analyze how members of Polish society perceive young people (around 30 years of age) and old people (over 65), their social and cultural capital, their position in society, and the roles they should play in private and public life before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Polish society is aging and the birth rate is low. Analysis demonstrates that certain opinions about the old and young are common among Polish citizens and the factors that in other countries differentiate opinions in this regard do not do so in Poland. The image of older people is based on stereotypes. Young people in particular believe that seniors should not be active on the labor market or in politics but should provide informal help to the young generation in the private sphere. The young generation is more individualistically oriented, while older people are more concerned with the collective.