Analysis 6/2017: The state spends more than Poles think. Research results
Synthesis
Poles do not know how much and on what the Polish state spends. Meanwhile, the structure and size of public spending have a direct impact on their daily lives by influencing the level of taxation and the availability of public services.
On behalf of FOR, Kantar TNS, the market research agency, conducted a survey of a representative group of Poles asking them about the amount of public expenditure, its structure and the amount of taxes.
Respondents who answered the question about the size of state expenditures per capita underestimated it more than twofold. Most people (65%) were unable to estimate the amount of public spending at all, and of those who tried, three-quarters expected it to be under 10 000 PLN per capita per year. The true figure is over 20 000 PLN.
The citizens’ ignorance allows politicians to issue irresponsible promises to increase pension expenditure (by lowering the retirement age and introducing 13th pensions). Yet pensions account already for one-third of the expenditures. Only 14% of respondents knew this.
As many as 26% of respondents incorrectly pointed to expenditure on administration as the largest expense of the state, while in reality it amounts only to 5% of total expenditure.
The impenetrability of the tax system makes it difficult for citizens to assess the amount of tax they pay. On a contract of employment and a salary of 3 000 PLN net, there is in total 2000 PLN of taxes and contributions, artificially split into 1200 PLN paid by the employee and 800 PLN by the employer. When asked about the amount of taxes and contributions, 73% of respondents chose the answer "I do not know."
Only 3% of the respondents answered correctly about the contributions paid by the employee, and 7% about the contributions paid by the employer.
The percentage of correct answers to the main questions (about the size of state spending, the largest category of state expenditure, and contributions and taxes on employment contracts) remains low regardless of what party the respondent prefers. Nevertheless, the most correct answers were given by the supporters of Partia Wolności (Freedom Party, party of Janusz Korwin-Mikke): 22%, Nowoczesna Ryszarda Petru (Modern Party of Ryszard Petru, associated with ALDE): 12% and Partia Razem (Together Party, far left party): 9%, i.e. three relatively smaller parties attracting mostly urban voters.
In the final analysis, it is up to voters to shape the policy of the state, so it is important to raise the awareness of citizens on issues which are crucial for further development of Poland. For the further economic growth of our country, public finances, that is how much and on what the Polish state spends, are of great importance. In order to study the knowledge of Poles about the size and structure of state expenditures FOR commissioned a survey by Kantar TNS, conducted on April 6-11, 2017, using direct Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) on a sample of 1067 people nationwide, representative for Poles aged 15 and over. Respondents were asked three questions:
1. About the size of state expenditures: the total annual expenditures of the Polish state amounts to hundreds of billions of zlotys. How do you estimate the annual state expenditure per citizen?
2. About the structure of state expenditure: the Polish state finances a number of different expenses from the taxpayers' money, such as pensions, health care, administration, social welfare, education, roads. Please rank these items in order from those on which the state, in your opinion, spends the most to those on which it spends the least.
3. About the taxation of work: if someone on a contract of employment earns three thousand PLN net, approximately how much do you think is paid by the employee in taxes and contributions?
Full analysis by FOR (in Polish) available to download here.
You are welcome to contact our expert:
Aleksander Łaszek - Chief Economist at FOR
aleksander.laszek@for.org.pl
