The vast majority of participants of the Polish March of Independence have higher education and are financially well off, according to a new survey that seems to contradict several stereotypes concerning the participants of the event.
According to the survey conducted by the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 68.4 percent of those who took part in the march have higher education. Only 0.5 percent have basic education while 4.4 percent of participants had professional education and 16.5 percent had a high school education.
The average net salary of a participant of the march is €1,297 per month with the Polish average for Q4 2018 standing at €826. The median was €935 with the Poland averaging €587 in 2017.
Seventy-two percent of the participants also voted for Law and Justice (PiS) in the 2015 elections.
Professor Andrzej Rychard, well known for his opposition to PiS, commented on the survey’s results on social media:
“We lived with the myth that these participants are often poor people, excluded from society and enchanted by the right. That’s not true. These people are above the Polish average by many measures, which is proven by these results. This is similar to the participants in right-wing demonstrations in Germany determined by Dr. Kocyba.”
He emphasized that a number of conclusions should be drawn from the survey, saying, “Sociologists and politicians should consider what these results actually mean.”
The analysis of Małgorzata Łukianow and Piotr Kocyba was created based on research conducted under the auspices of the PAN Philosophy and Sociology Institute in cooperation with the Center for Research on Prejudice.
