social cooperative as an instrument of social economy

SOCIAL COOPERATIVE AS AN INSTRUMENT OF SOCIAL
ECONOMY COMBATING SOCIAL AND OCCUPATIONAL
EXCLUSION OF THE DISABLED
SOCIÁLNE PODNIKY AKO NÁSTROJ SOCIÁLNEJ EKONÓMIE
BOJUJÚCEJ PROTI SOCIÁLNEJ A PRACOVNEJ EXKLÚZII
ZNEVÝHODNENÝCH
BOREK Jolanta
Abstract (AJ)
Social economy, as one of the key areas of Polish and European social policy, is a
manifestation of the development of civil society and its socio-economic activity. One of the
forms this activity takes are social cooperatives. The idea behind their functioning is to
combine the concept of building participatory democracy, i.e. civil activity, with active
support of local community. Social cooperatives as entities providing social services within
local communities, and at the same time enabling individuals who are facing social exclusion
to find work and integrate with society, constitute an opportunity to increase employment and
ensure social integration of the disabled.
Abstrakt (SJ)
Sociálna ekonómia, ako jedna z kľúčových oblastí sociálnej politiky v Poľsku a v Európe, je
prejavom rozvoja občianskej spoločnosti a jej spoločensko-ekonomickej aktivity. Jednou z
foriem tejto aktivity sú sociálne podniky. Myšlienka ich fungovania je založená na kombinácii
konceptu tvorby kolektívnej demokracie, t.j. občianskej aktivity za aktívnej podpory miestnej
komunity. Sociálne podniky ako subjekty poskytujúce sociálne služby v rámci miestnych
komunít a zároveň poskytujúce prácu občanom, ktorí musia čeliť sociálnemu vylúčeniu a
tým umožňujúce ich integráciu do spoločnosti, znamenajú možnosť rastu zamestnanosti a
zaistenia sociálnej integrácie znevýhodnených.
INTRODUCTION
Historically, one can distinguish three periods in the development of the Polish sector of
social economy: traditional (before World War II), “old” (belonging to the socialist era) and
new (developing since 1989).1 Thus, contemporary social economy has a relatively short
history. In fact, it is often emphasized that it is still “sprouting,” mostly from the nongovernmental sector, which is very young itself.2 The slow pace of development of social
economy is largely determined by historical factors. The period of building the fundaments of
civil society and social economy in our country is relatively short as compared to Western
European countries, where these ideas started evolving much earlier. Generally speaking,
between 1945 and 1989 the idea of the development of civil society was officially “dead” in
our country; it was revived after 1989. The 1945-1989 period saw many negative experiences,
such as the post-war nationalization of the cooperative sector and its subjection to the
1
J. Herbst, Pole przedsiębiorczości społecznej w Polsce [in:] Giza Oleszczuk A., Hausner J. (eds.) Ekonomia
społeczna w Polsce: osiągnięcia, bariery rozwoju i potencjał w świetle wyników badań, Fundusz Inicjatyw
Społeczno Ekonomicznych, Warszawa 2008, p. 14-15, ISBN 978-83-85928-66-9
2
Op.cit., p. 45
1
centrally controlled administration.3 The excessive growth of the latter undermined the
authenticity of democratic mechanisms of cooperative movement. This process was
accompanied by the use of force (at least in the first post-war period), resulting in people’s
mistrust and in disbanding of the bulk of cooperatives after 1956, as well as in rejection of
various forms of cooperation by the society in the 1990s.4 Another reason for the crisis of the
cooperative movement in Poland was the fact that the cooperative structures were under the
control of people “of the previous [i.e. communist] era”5 who could not adjust their the way of
running things to the changing conditions of their surroundings.
It is noted that the return to the achievements and traditions of social economy was an
institutional reaction to the crisis of the welfare state.6 It was also an effect of the development
of civil society and of an increase in economic activity of non-governmental organizations, as
well as a reaction to the problem of social exclusion which, despite the economic
development and social progress, affects or is a threat to many individuals. Among those
facing exclusion are the disabled.
Social cooperatives, as an entity of social economy combining civil activity with an active
support of local community,7 involve those disadvantaged on the labour market in the process
of normalizing their own lives. As a response to the departing from passive forms of support
in favour of active, development-oriented solutions, social cooperatives become part of the
mainstream Polish and European social policy. The idea behind the functioning of social
cooperatives is based on combining some aspects of occupational development with social
integration. One of target groups this form of enterprise is directed at are the disabled. This
shows that social cooperatives can have a vital role in the process of occupational and social
reintegration of disabled people.
The objective of this paper is to present the social cooperative as an instrument of social
economy, which can play a major role in the process of occupational development and social
integration of the disabled in their local environment. The paper consists of three parts
preceded by an introduction and followed by a summary. The first part presents information
on disability in Poland. Part two discusses socio-economical reasons for the development of
social cooperatives. The third part touches upon the issue of the positive impact of social
cooperatives on the process of occupational and social reintegration of disabled people. The
summary discusses the impediments to the development of social cooperatives in Poland.
1 FACTS AND FIGURES ON DISABILITY IN POLAND
For many years, Poland has seen a raise in the number of the disabled and their percentage in
total population. The highest percentage, of 14.3%, was recorded in 2002. From 2002 to 2011
the total number of disabled people dropped from 5,456,700 to 4,697,500 and the number of
people with legally recognized disability fell from 4,450,100 to 3,131,900. Regardless of the
3
S. Nałęcz, Polska gospodarka społeczna w ujęciu tradycyjnym – synteza [in:] Nałęcz S. (ed.) Gospodarka
społeczna w Polsce, wyniki badań 2005 – 2007, Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN, Warszawa 2008, p. 38,
ISBN 978-83-60580-22-6
4
J. Herbst, Perspektywy ekonomii społecznej [in:] Frączek M. et al. (eds.) Ekonomia społeczna 1/2013(6), p. 10,
ISSN 2081-321X
5
A. Piechowski, Punkty widzenia, Trzeci sektor, no. 2/2005, p.88, ISBN 978-83-235-039-0
6
M. Rymsza, Druga fala ekonomii społecznej w Polsce a koncepcja aktywnej polityki społecznej [in:]
Kaźmierczak T., Rymsza M. (eds.) Kapitał społeczny. Ekonomia społeczna, Instytut Spraw Publicznych,
Warszawa 2007, p. 175-176, ISBN 83-88594-92-3
7
A. Sienicka, Od pasywnej do aktywnej polityki społecznej, Gazeta Samorządu i Administracji, no. 1/2007
2
decrease in numbers, the percentage of the disabled in the total population of Poland remained
relatively high at 12.2%. There also was a drop in the number of those with legally recognized
disability aged 15 or more and within the working age group (their percentages in 2011 were
at 10.6% of total population aged 15 or more and of total working age population).8 The
reduction in the number of disabled Poles was accompanied by the changes in the structure of
their disability. The percentage of people with a mild level of disability decreased, while the
percentage of those with a severe level of disability increased. The general percentage of
people with moderate level of disability rose as well, but the percentage of the moderately
disabled of working age decreased, which shows that the increase concerned the pre-working
and post-working age population (table 1).
Table 1. The percentage shares of people with mild, moderate and severe level of
disability in the total number of the disabled
Disability level
1
2
3
4
The disabled in total
The disabled of working age
2002
2009
2009
2011
Mild
42.9
34.4
41,1
37,4
Moderate
35.1
38.4
40,2
41,8
Severe
22.0
27.2
18,7
20,8
Total
100.0
100.0
100,0
100,0
Soource: NSP 2002, NSP 2012, BAEL as quated at: www.niepelnosprawni.gov.pl
The most frequent causes of disability were cardiovascular diseases, musculoskeletal
disorders and neurological disorders. Vision and hearing impairment, mental disorders and
mental retardation are relatively less common.9
Disability, affecting a person’s functional ability, obstructs their functioning in everyday life
and makes it more difficult for them to fulfill their social and professional roles,10 to achieve
an adequate socio-economic and material status, and to participate in cultural and political
life. One of the key issues faced by disabled Poles of working age is limited access to
employment. Professional activity rate among disabled Poles aged 15 or more, which was
22.8% in 1994, decreased to the level of 13.9% in 2007 and then rose to 17.4% in 2012. The
activity rate among the disabled of working age has been rising since 2007 (from 22.6% to
27.5% in 2012). Nevertheless, in 2012 it was still lower than the activity rate of the total
population by 22.7 pp.11
It should be emphasized that the level of difficulty faced by disabled people in various areas
of life has to do with the level and cause of their disability and the severity of its symptoms,
as well as with the functionality of the disabled person’s living space. For quite a number of
the disabled, overcoming the impediments in their immediate and further surroundings on
their own is beyond their capacity. That is why the relatively high percentage of disabled
people in the total population of Poland and the numerous factors restricting their access to
employment and limiting their possibilities of social inclusion are a major challenge to social
policy. This indicates that external instruments of support, such as legal and financial
instruments supporting the founding and operation of social cooperatives, and the
cooperatives themselves, play a vital role in the processes of occupational development and
social integration of members of the disabled community.
8
www.stat.gov.pl - BAEL
Op.cit.
10
Z. Kawczyńska-Butrym, Niepełnosprawność – specyfika pomocy społecznej, Katowice 1998, p. 51, ISBN
83-7164-116-8
11
www.stat.gov.pl - BDL
9
3
2
SOCIO-ECONOMIC
FACTORS
ENCOURAGING
DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL COOPERATIVES IN POLAND
THE
The development of social cooperatives in Poland is justified by numerous social and
economic factors. One of them is a large number of the country’s citizens faced with
exclusion (about 10 million,12 with 3 million disabled people). The prevalent cause of
exclusion is unemployment, with other major causes being addiction and poverty, mental
illness, family pathologies, different sexual orientation, disability, low level of professional
skills, advanced age, housing difficulties, different religion, different skin colour and
belonging to national minorities.13 Among the areas of exclusion, there are: exclusion from
the society, alienation, lack of acceptance; unemployment, having no possibility to take up a
job; alcoholism, drunkenness; having one’s human rights limited or violated; underclass,
social outcasts; alienation of the poor; having no possibility to participate in social life;
homelessness; no possibility to participate in political and cultural life; crime; lack of social
acceptance; being isolated in penal institutions; intolerance; helplessness, inability to cope in
the society.14 As clearly shown by the structure of the causes and areas of exclusion, disabled
people constitute a social group that is particularly exposed to social exclusion. Not only do
they face their disability (including mental disorders), but they are also quite frequently met
with lack of acceptance and have an impeded access to political and cultural life; they have a
low level of education which, combined with other factors, makes it difficult for them to find
a job and thus makes them face the issue of unemployment; which in turn, combined with the
low pension benefits, contributes to poverty and housing problems.
Another argument for the development of social cooperatives, from the perspective of their
impact on the process of occupational and social reintegration of disabled people, is the
influence social cooperatives have on mobilizing local communities. Since, as compared to
the able-bodied, disabled people are less mobile and adapt less easily to new environments,
the key role in the process of their occupational development is played by local labour
markets (relevant to the place of their residence).
The rationale for developing social cooperatives is also associated with the role of work in
human life, social progress and economic growth, and the social and economic consequences
of unemployment. Work fulfills a person’s economic and non-economic (biological, sociocultural) needs, normalizes their life, affects their development and raises their self-esteem.15
Having a positive impact on health, work can contribute to reducing health care costs. As a
source of income, it can also lead to reducing the government’s expenditure on pensions and
social benefits. In case of disabled people, working is seen as the most effective method of
rehabilitation and social integration. Work is the source of producing and increasing the gross
domestic product, which is the measure of the country’s economic growth. It is the GDP that
12
K.Głąbicka, Ekonomia społeczna. Podmioty i instrumenty, Mazowieckie Centrum Polityki Społecznej,
Warszawa 2009, p.9, ISBN 978-83-9181000-7-0
13
Research International PENTOR, Wykluczenie społeczne. Kampania społeczna ,,Warto być za”,
Profile Sp. z o.o., September 2006, p. 8, ISBN 9788376101668
14
Poradnik dotyczący realizacji wsparcia dla osób wykluczonych społecznie oraz zagrożonych
wykluczeniem społecznym w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Kapitał Ludzki, Warszawa 2009, p.7, ISBN
9788361939207
15
H. Januszek, Socjologia pracy jako nauka [in:] Januszek H., Sikora J. (eds.). Socjologia pracy, Wydawnictwo
AE w Poznaniu, p.11, ISBN 83-85530-75-4
4
determines the possibilities of further economic development and the extent to which
economy can fulfill social needs.16
Socio-economic consequences of unemployment are of no less significance.17 An effect of
unemployment is the difficult financial situation of the unemployed and their families, which
results in a low standard of consumption and a low level of needs fulfillment.18 This in turn
may increase the need for using social benefits.19 It also raises the state’s expenditure incurred
on account of unemployment (in the form of direct costs, i.e. expenditures on the unemployed
and on assistance provided to them, and indirect costs concerning the loss of budget revenue
due to unemployment, in the form of direct and indirect taxes and designated funds, mostly
the Labour Fund and the Social Insurance Fund).20 Furthermore, unemployment results in loss
of production due to incomplete use of labour resources. 21 Production dynamics also suffer in
the long run.22 Unemployment has numerous social consequences as well. It adversely affects
the health and social functioning of the unemployed individual, causes disintegration of their
family and contributes to pathologies.23 Additionally, in case of disabled people,
unemployment reduces their opportunities for social inclusion and independent living (to the
best of one’s individual ability). It can also exacerbate health problems associated with the
basic cause of the disability, or cause new ones to appear, thereby decreasing adaptation
capabilities24 and leading to isolation, lack of activity and withdrawal from life.25 To sum up,
loss of production, resulting from a low professional activity rate, and the increase in socioeconomic costs of unemployment have an adverse effect on the economic situation of the
country, which in turn affects the possibilities of fulfilling people’s needs and impacts their
living conditions.
As mentioned above, the development of social cooperatives is also encouraged by the
development of the idea of civil society and an increase in socio-economic activity of the nongovernmental sector.
Another factor encouraging the rise of social cooperatives is a growing role of local
government in the processes that enhance quality of life of local communities.26 It has to do
16
K. Kuciński, Gospodarka globalna, Wydawnictwo Kurpisz, Poznań 2002, p. 16, ISBN 8388841238
E. Kwiatkowski, Bezrobocie. Podstawy teoretyczne, PWN, Warszawa 2006, p. 77, ISBN 8301136197
18
Op. cit., p. 84
19
K. Piątek. , Polityka społeczna – praca socjalna – skomplikowany charakter związków i zależności, [in:] Wódz
K., Piątek K. (eds.), Socjologia i polityka społeczna a aktualne problemy pracy socjalnej, Toruń 2004, p. 109110, ISBN 83-89163-06-3
20
H. Zarychta, Skutki i koszty bezrobocia na lokalnym rynku pracy, Praca i Zabezpieczenie Społeczne, 1994,
No. 6; E. Kwiatkowski, Bezrobocie…, op. cit., p. 82 – 83.
21
It is indicated that in order to sustain economic growth and decrease the growing charges of the social
insurance system, Europe should increase the employment rate, [as stated in:] R. Wynne, D. McAnaney, C.
O’Kelly, Employment guidance services for people with disabilities European Foundation for the Improvement
of Living and Working Conditions, Ireland 2006, p.1
22
Op.cit.p. 80.
23
More on the subject can be found in: E Kwiatkowski, W. Kwiatkowska, Bezrobocie i jego skutki społecznoekonomiczne w okresie transformacji systemu społeczno-gospodarczego w Polsce, Zeszyty Naukowe, vol. 10,
Szkoła Wyższa im. Pawła Włodkowica w Płocku, Płock 1998, p. 68-69, ISBN 8371743009
24
T. Jakubowska, O znaczeniu i szansach pracy dla osób z uszkodzeniami i chorobami mózgu, Problemy
Rehabilitacji Społecznej i Zawodowej 1996, No. 3(149)
25
T. Majewski, Rehabilitacja zawodowa i zatrudnienie osób niepełnosprawnych dla pracowników terenowych,
KIG-R, Warszawa 1999, p. 33-34, ISBN 8391251616
26
More on the subject: E. Markowska-Bzducha, Creators of local development – local self-government
structures in the European Union countries, [in:] Kvalita Źivota II. Socialne a ekonomicke aspekty, edited by
M. Storośka, International School of Management Slovakia, Preśov 2011, p. 321-327, ISBN 978-80-89372-26-3
17
5
with the progressing decentralization of public administration duties and with the existing
legal instruments that allow local governments to act as co-founders of social cooperatives
and to commission these cooperatives to perform public tasks (social, educational and
cultural).27 The cooperatives’ activity can receive support from the budgets of local
government units in the form of subsidies, loans, services or consultancy on finance,
economics, legal matters, accounting and marketing, and reimbursement of inspection costs.28
Another factor encouraging the development of social cooperatives are instruments that
support their founding and operation. Unemployed disabled natural persons starting such
enterprise can receive a subsidy in the amount not greater than fifteen times the average
national salary, while other unemployed natural persons can be subsidized with four times the
average pay. Legal persons are eligible for cost reimbursement for equipping or upgrading the
workplace for the unemployed referred by the employment office (not earlier than after 6
months of operating). Both kinds of entities (i.e. legal and natural persons) can also receive
support from the national government and local government budgets, and as part of projects
co-financed with the resources of the Human Capital Operational Programme (2007-2013) in
the form of exemption from the court fee regarding registration application for the National
Court Register; reimbursement of social insurance premiums; tax exemptions; legal,
accounting and marketing services; group and individual consultancy; training (including
occupational training); funding for forming or joining a social cooperative (up to 20,000
zlotys for the founder of a social cooperative of natural persons, a natural person joining a
social cooperative and a natural person being employed in a social cooperative of legal
persons); as well as bridging financial support with guidance facilitating the effective
application of the funding received.29
The above factors indicate that the development of social cooperatives is an opportunity for a
pro-growth solution of the problem of unemployment of the disabled and their exclusion from
the local community life.
3 SOCIAL COOPERATIVE AS A PLACE OF SOCIAL INTEGRATION
AND OCCUPATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISABLED
As it has been mentioned above, social cooperatives are a relatively new phenomenon in
Poland, although the idea refers to the tradition of cooperative movement. The term “social
cooperative” (spółdzielnia społeczna) appeared in Polish legislation in 2004, in the act of
April 20, 2004 on promoting employment and labour market institutions. The act was
amended with the Cooperative Law which introduced an opportunity to create a new type of
oraz E. Markowska-Bzducha, The role of local governments in creating of development processes - local
investment expenditures, [in:] Gospodarka regionalna i turystyka, Wyższa Szkoła Ekonomii Turystyki i Nauk
Społecznych w Kielcach, Kielce 2010, p. 73-80, ISSN 1733-4314.
27
The scope of tasks is defined in the Act on Public Benefits and Volunteer Work of April 24, 2003.
28
More on the capacities of local governments in this area: E. Markowska-Bzducha, Rola samorządu
terytorialnego we wspieraniu lokalnej przedsiębiorczości,[in:] Wspieranie przedsiębiorczości przez samorząd
lokalny województwa świętokrzyskiego, edited by A. Rapacz, Wydawnictwo WSETiNS, Kielce 2012, p. 35-60,
ISBN 978-83-934365-4-5.
29
M. Ołdak, Spółdzielnia socjalna krok po kroku [in:] Sobczyk M., Sobótka A., (ed.) Spółdzielnia socjalna osób
prawnych, Krajowy Związek Rewizyjny Spółdzielni Inwalidów i Spółdzielni Niewidomych, Warszawa 2011, p.
75-76, ISBN 978-83-926008-8-6; T. Majewski, C. Miżejewski C., W. Sobczak, Gmina a niepełnosprawność.
Podręcznik dla samorządów gminnych z zakresu aktywizacji zawodowej i rehabilitacji społecznej osób
niepełnosprawnych, KIGR, Warszawa 2007, p. 175-177, ISBN 978-83-923627-4-6
6
cooperatives oriented at social objectives, not just economic ones.30 On April 27, 2006 the Act
on Social Cooperatives was passed. It forms the basis for creating legal entities which are not
oriented at profit maximization but at social reintegration (i.e. rebuilding and sustaining an
individual’s ability to participate in the life of local community and fulfill social roles in the
workplace and at home) and occupational reintegration (i.e. rebuilding the ability to take up a
job and stay employed as part of the cooperative’s economic activity) of their members.31
Members of the cooperative subscribe to the traditional value system based in integrity, social
responsibility and concern for others, which shows that the idea behind the functioning of
social cooperatives is consistent with the objectives of social policy concerning the disabled
(with main objectives being occupational rehabilitation and social integration). The crucial
significance of occupational rehabilitation is related to the aforementioned socio-economic
dimension of work and unemployment. Social integration of disabled people constitutes a key
element of social policy due to the fact that segregation contradicts human rights (causing a
growing disproportion between the able-bodied and the disabled), makes it less likely to
develop social and professional skills and leads to the stigmatization of disabled people
(physically or mentally different), thereby endangering them with social exclusion.32
Work is a basic form of social and occupational reintegration of members of a social
cooperative. Additionally, they can participate in various forms of training, support groups,
group retreats and the like. These tasks of the cooperative are facilitated by legal and financial
instruments supporting the founding and functioning of social cooperatives. Based on these
instruments, the cooperative’s statutory activity in the area of reintegration does not constitute
economic activity and can be conducted in the form of paid statutory activity (it is the
cooperative’s duty to keep separate accounting records for these forms of activity, so that their
revenues, costs and financial results can be determined). Financial resources for these tasks
can be derived from the balance surplus of the cooperative (in accordance with the Act on
Social Cooperatives at least 40% of the balance surplus must be allocated to the social and
occupational reintegration of the cooperative’s members; the amount allocated to this purpose
is exempted from tax) and from external financing sources (e.g. Fundusz Inicjatyw
Obywatelskich – Civic Initiatives Fund).33 What is also important to the functioning of social
cooperatives and the attainment of their statutory objectives is the fact that apart form their
social, educational and cultural activities benefiting their members and their local
environment, they can also conduct socially useful activity in the field of public tasks (the
scope of which is defined by the Act on Public Benefits and Volunteer Work of April 24,
2003). This solution allows cooperatives to carry out the aforementioned tasks commissioned
by local governments which can constitute a vital element supporting their operation.
Cooperatives can be founded by natural persons (unemployed people; homeless people
completing individual programmes of getting out of homelessness; former convicts having
difficulty integrating with their environment; refugees completing individual integration
programmes; disabled and mentally ill people; alcohol addicts after having completed a
psychotherapy programme in an addiction treatment centre; drug and other substance addicts
after having completed a therapeutic programme in a health care facility; and other people
30
M. Ołdak, Spółdzielnia socjalna…, op.cit., p. 71.
Journal of Laws of 2006, no. 94, item 651, with further amendments (Dz. U. z 2006 r., nr 94, poz. 651 z późn.
zm.)
32
I. Obuchowska, Refleksje na temat integracji we współczesnej edukacji [in:] Twardowski W. (ed.)
Wspomaganie dzieci z genetycznie uwarunkowanymi wadami rozwoju i ich rodzin, Wydawnictwo Naukowe
PTP, Poznań 2006, ISBN 8386273631
33
M. Ołdak, Spółdzielnia socjalna …, op.cit. p. 83-84.
31
7
facing social exclusion and not being able to fulfill their basic needs on their own, facing
poverty, endangered with occupational, social and family exclusion). These people are
subjects of the cooperatives’ statutory activity in the area of social and occupational
reintegration. Moreover, social cooperatives may be founded by legal persons (nongovernmental organizations, local government units, Church legal entities).34 This possibility
is an important element of the policy of occupational development and social integration of
people facing exclusion because it opens the doors for the above mentioned entities to join in
this process. This can be proven by the project “Trójkąt pożytku publicznego” (Public Benefit
Triangle) which aimed at developing a model of social cooperatives based on local resources,
i.e. on the cooperation between the co-founders who were non-governmental organizations
(running occupational therapy workshops) and local governments, with the support of the
cooperative by local business.35
As of April 29, 2013 there were 671 social cooperatives operating in Poland. The largest
number of cooperatives operated in Greater Poland and Masovian Voivodeships, where the
registered unemployment rate is at its lowest (table 2). However, a detailed analysis of the
spatial distribution of cooperatives36 indicates a clear relation between their number and the
size of the administrative unit and its location. For example, in Masovian Voivodeship 52.4%
of social cooperatives operated in Warsaw, which is both the capital of the country and of the
voivodeship. It seems there is a role to be played for local governments in breaking this trend
and reviving the idea of cooperative movement in the local environments of small towns
(town, semi-rural and rural municipalities).
Table 2. The number of social cooperatives and non-governmental organizations in
Poland and the unemployment rate, according to voivodeships
Voivodeship (province)
Number of
Registered unemployment
cooperatives on
rate in April 2012
April 15, 2013
1
Greater Poland
82
10.6
(wielkopolskie)
2
Masovian (mazowieckie)
63
11.4
3
Łódź (łódzkie)
59
14.8
4
Lesser Poland (małopolskie)
55
12.3
5
Podkarpackie
55
17.0
6
Silesian (śląskie)
53
11.6
46
14.3
7
Lowe Silesian
(dolnośląskie)
8
Kuyavian-Pomeranian
42
18.9
(kujawsko-pomorskie)
9
Lublin (lubelskie)
41
14.9
10 Warmian-Masurian
37
22.2
(warmińsko-mazurskie)
11 West Pomeranian
29
19.1
(zachodniopomorskie)
34
Art. 4 ustawy o spółdzielniach socjalnych
L. Mizera., Trójkąt pożytku publicznego – model spółdzielni socjalnej dla osób niepełnosprawnych [in:]
Sobczyk m., Sobótka A. (eds.) Spółdzielnia socjalna osób niepełnosprawnych. Poradnik, Krajowy Związek
Rewizyjny Spółdzielni Inwalidów i Spółdzielni Niewidomych, Warszawa 2011, p.33-34, ISBN 978-83-9260088-6
36
Detailed information on this subject can be found at: www.orzss.pl/spoldzielnie-socjalne/katalog
35
8
12
13
14
15
16
Pomeranian (pomorskie)
Podlasie (podlaskie)
Lubusz (lubuskie)
Świętokrzyskie
Opole (opolskie)
27
21
21
18
15
13.4
15.5
16.9
16.7
15.2
Source: www.orzss.pl/spoldzielnie-socjalne/katalog; www.WUP Mazowsze
SUMMARY
The social cooperative, as a relatively new legal entity, combining characteristics of a
cooperative and a non-governmental organization, seems to provide an opportunity for
occupational and social reintegration of disabled people in their living environments.
However, as shown by the statistics concerning the number of social cooperatives active in
Poland an their uneven spatial distribution, the effect of these entities on the employment
increase and social inclusion of the disabled into the structures of local community is spatially
diversified. The reasons for this are complex. Several factors can be pointed out, contributing
to such state of affairs. Some of them are: spatial diversity of social and economic activity of
the population; spatial diversity of economic activity of local governments and their diverse
incomes affecting the capacity to support socio-economic initiatives; relatively low
involvement of local governments on the level of municipality (gmina) in the processes of
occupational development and social integration of the disabled;37 and spatial diversity of
household incomes determining their purchasing power. Due to these factors opportunities for
the development of social cooperatives in the economically and socially backward areas are
smaller than in the more developed areas. The underlying causes of these differences are
lower social activity, small number and low activity of non-governmental organizations, less
opportunities for supporting the social cooperatives by business as compared to the highly
urbanized areas with higher levels of economic activity and better economic situation of
enterprises; less opportunities for the support of social cooperatives by local governments at
the level of municipality (gmina) and county (powiat) as compared to local government units
with higher incomes and activity level; and lower demand for goods and services due to lower
purchasing power of community members.
The impediments mentioned here by no means exhaust the range of factors affecting the
spatial diversity of opportunities for the development of social cooperatives and their impact
on the process of occupational development and social integration of disabled Poles within
their local community. Undoubtedly though, it is due to these impediments that the disabled
residents of the economically (and socially) backward areas are less likely to participate in the
benefits of the operation of this type of entities of social economy, which is in contradiction
with the principles of sustainable development and equal opportunities policy.
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Contact details
Jolanta Borek, PhD
Kazimierz Pulaski
University of Technology and Humanities In Radom
Faculty of Economics
St. Chrobrego 31
26-600 Radom
Poland
e-mail: [email protected]
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