Equal opportunities: Youth inclusiveness in the Polish labour market in the context of urbanisation

From an economic and social standpoint, it is imperative for any nation to analyse the situation of young people in the labour market under changing macroeconomic conditions. In Poland, the employment rate of young people is lower than the European Union average, which is likely to have ramifications for future labour demand. The aim of this study is to assess the situation of young people in local labour markets, with particular emphasis on regional capitals as employment centres and the inclusivity levels of regional labour markets. The analysis was conducted on data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) by Statistics Poland, covering the years 1995–2023. Econometric techniques and spatial statistics methods were employed, taking into account the level of urbanisation. The findings indicated a substantial variation in inclusiveness across different levels of urbanisation, demonstrating a clear link between the two. Contrary to popular belief, urbanisation did not appear to uniformly promote labour market inclusiveness; indeed, large cities exhibited both lower unemployment rates and lower inclusiveness.