Overburden of housing costs of seniors’ households in Poland and more populous EU countries (2007–2019)

Abstract

The aim of the article is to outline and evaluate the sequence of directions of changes, as well as trends and general proportions, of the level of the overburden rate with housing costs of households created by people aged 65 or more compared to the total number of households in Poland and selected more populous EU countries in 2007–2019 based on Eurostat data. Outside Poland, the analysis covers France, Spain, Germany and Italy. The general methodological assumption is to limit the analysis of Eurostat data on information on the quality and content of the statistics of overburdening households with housing costs without entering into international and national socio-economic conditions in this regard. The conducted analysis shows that the Eurostat data illustrating the rate of cost overload allow only careful analysis, expressed in general proportions and only then having objective values from the point of view of real relationships of the level of this rate between Poland and selected EU countries. On the other hand, these data allow for sufficiently reliable direct comparisons of the real sequences of the directions of changes and trends in the level of this rate. The relatively lengthy periods of the decline or tendency to decline in the rate of overload with total housing costs of households, including senior households, are noted in Poland, but no far-reaching conclusions can be drawn on this basis due to the limited cognitive value of the data.