Comparison of changes in living standards of Poland's population across different classes of location over the years 2000-2011

The goal of this article is to verify the hypothesis that from 2000 to 2011 the discrepancies between material living standards in the countryside and cities of different sizes blurred in Poland year by year. On the basis of the research conducted it has been determined that over the first decade of the 21st century the discrepancy between the living standards in Poland’s rural and urban areas decreased in terms of the amount and structure of expenditure per capita, volume of quantitative consumption, housing conditions and household equipment including durable goods. This conclusion has been drawn because the level of examined variables, both in the countryside and cities or towns of different sizes over the years 2000–2011, approached in most cases the level observed for the whole country.