© Leszek J. Kucharski, Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski. Artykuł udostępniony na licencji CC BY-SA 4.0
Modern labour markets are characterised by considerable instability, resulting from factors such as demographic trends, structural change, economic fluctuations and implementing modern technologies. The aim of the study presented in the article is to compare the labour market situation of rural and urban residents in Poland and Spain, both in relation to the entire population and narrower groups, based on gender, age, education and marital status. The selection of Poland and Spain for comparative analysis results from the similarities between their labour markets, e.g. population ageing and deagrarianisation of rural areas, as well as considerable differences in the economic development, the international migration balance and the flexibility of the labour market. The statistical analyses were based on aggregate data from 2010 to 2023 and individual data from 2010 to 2020, provided by Eurostat and derived from the Labour Force Surveys. To show the situation of these groups in the labour market, we use stock-based indicators (including the employment and the unemployment rates) and flow analyses (flows of people between the employment, the unemployment, and the economic inactivity). A multinomial logit model was used as a flow analysis tool.
The study indicates that in the analysed period, in both countries, unemployment rates in rural areas were higher and employment rates lower than in cities. People aged 15–24 had lower chances of finding a job and were at a greater risk of unemployment both in Poland and Spain. In both countries, gender was a differentiating factor in the labour market. In Poland, women were more at risk of unemployment than men and had fewer opportunities to find work. In Spain, the situation was reversed: women’s chances of finding work were greater than those of men, and employed women were less at risk of unemployment than men. In Poland and in Spain, the labour market situation of people with higher education was significantly better than that of people with lower levels of education in both urban and rural areas.
labour market, situation on the labour market, Poland, Spain, logit model
J4, J43, J64, R15
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