This is a project to examine how individuals and households adapt to traumatic economic hardship and change. The research will be based primarily on a survey to be conducted in 600 households in both urban and rural areas of Lublin, Poland. The survey will collect systematic data on the nature of the economic hardships and changes being experienced and a variety of conditions and past experiences that influence how households adapt to economic stress. The economic changes that are sweeping the countries of the former Soviet bloc are having a dramatic impact on the lives of ordinary citizens in those countries. The future stability of these societies depends to a considerable extent on whether individuals and families can adapt to these changes and achieve family goals better than they could under the old socialist system. Poland, as a leader in implementing market reforms in the post-Soviet era, represents a particularly important case we need to understand. This project, by collecting systematic data on adaptation to economic change in one area of Poland, will increase our understanding of the momentous changes underway in that society and their implications for the future.
