Education, healthcare, culture in the suburbs of Warsaw (Warsaw Suburbs 2)

We continue the series of articles about the state of the social sphere and economic indicators in cities nearby the Polish capital for those of our readers who prefer to also rely on scientific data when searching for real estate in the suburbs of Warsaw.

For ease of comparison, data is shown for the Warsaw Voivodeship and its constituent Warsaw metropolitan region. The Warsaw Metropolitan Region includes Warsaw (officially the Capital City of Warsaw) and 9 powiats. The powiats include communes, represented in our material by cities that are the centers of the corresponding communes.

Cities included in the Warsaw Functional Region (WOF) are marked in grey. We talked about WOF itself in a previous article.

The article was prepared in October 2023 and includes the latest available data at this time - at the end of 2021.

Our second article is about the social sphere of the cities that make up the suburbs of Warsaw.

First, about preschool institutions (Table 1). Judging by the number of preschool institutions (although this is not entirely correct), then most of them are in the cities of Piaseczno (57 units), Pruszków (34), Marki (32), Wołomin (27), Grodzisk Mazowiecki (27), Legionowo ( 22), Mińsk Mazowiecki (22), Ząbki (22), Otwock (21 preschool).

However, a more accurate judgment would be how many children in each specific city go to kindergartens in relation to the population in these cities. We have made a corresponding analysis and offer it to you. First of all, let's say that it is surprising that the percentage of children attending kindergartens in the capital Warsaw is inferior to powiats and communes.

So, if you have a need to place your children in a preschool institution, then you should go to the province!

And now the specifics. Among the cities in Warsaw, the city with the most provision of places in preschool institutions is the city of Ząbki. Here, 6.32% of the total number of citizens attend kindergartens. This is 1.6 times better than in Warsaw. Good figures are also in the cities of Marki (5.88%), Kobyłka (5.73%), Radzymin (5.10%), Piaseczno (4.91%), Grodzisk Mazowiecki (4.85%), Józefów (4.685) , Pruszków (4.38% of the city's total population).

Table 1. Preschool education in the suburbs of Warsaw in the 2021/2022 academic year

Below, Table 2 presents data on the number of primary schools, schools and students in them in cities adjacent to Warsaw. You can see for yourself where there are more schools and choose a city suitable for this criterion for your residence.

Table 2. Primary schools in the suburbs of Warsaw for children and youth for the 2021/2022 school year (as of the beginning of the school year)

When analyzing the healthcare system in the suburbs of Warsaw, we will rely on the ratio of indicators in suburban cities to the metropolitan Warsaw region, which includes, in addition to the capital, all our suburbs.

The largest number of pharmacies are in cities such as Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Legionowo, Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, Otwock, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Piaseczno, Pruszków, Marki, Ząbki, Wołomin.

As for clinics, the picture here is slightly different. The largest number of clinics is in the above-mentioned cities of Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Legionowo, Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, Otwock, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Piaseczno, Pruszków, Marki, Ząbki, Wołomin. To these is added Konstancin-Jeziorna, a city where there are sanatoriums. This paragraph is about the sum of city clinics (belonging to local government) and private ones.

If we consider city clinics separately, it is worth paying attention to the fact that in a number of small cities they are absent, and healthcare here is represented only by private medicine. This applies to the cities of Milanówek, Podkowa Leśna, Halinów, Brwinów, Tłuszcz. Among the fairly large cities, the city of Marki has this feature. In most suburban cities there are 1-2 clinics belonging to local governments.

The largest number of city clinics is in the cities of Wołomin - 7, Konstancin-Jeziorna - 6, Piaseczno, Nasielsk, Otwock - 5 each, Grodzisk Mazowiecki - 4. It should be borne in mind that a number of these cities are centers of urban-rural communes, which include a whole a number of settlements.

The largest share of outpatient medical consultations in primary health care (during the year) in polyclinics subordinate to local government as a percentage of the total number of consultations was provided in the cities of Kałuszyn, Zakroczym, 100% each (there is one clinic each, and those in the city), Karczew, Tarczyn 100.0% each, Góra Kalwaria 73.1%, Serock 73.0%, Piastów 70.5%, Nasielsk (67.9%), Sulejówek 67.6%.

The largest number of clinics of all forms of ownership are in Piaseczno (47 institutions), Pruszków (35), Otwock (34), Wołomin (31), Legionowo and Mińsk Mazowiecki (29 each), Grodzisk Mazowiecki (26), Konstancin-Jeziorna (24), Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki (19).

The highest attendance at outpatient medical consultations in primary health care (during the year) in absolute numbers is observed in clinics in the cities of Piaseczno, Pruszków, Otwock, Wołomin, Legionowo, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Konstancin-Jeziorna, Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, Góra Kalwaria, Błonie, Łomianki, Marki, Ząbki, Wołomin, Zielonka, Radzymin.

Table 3. Healthcare in the suburbs of Warsaw in 2021 (as of December 31)

Now let's turn to table 4 and determine how many childcare institutions for children under 3 years old are in the suburbs of Warsaw. In absolute terms, there are more of them in the cities of Piaseczno - 19, Ząbki - 17, Mińsk Mazowiecki - 16, Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Pruszków - 14 each, Marki - 12. Of the large suburbs, the smallest number of child care institutions under 3 years old is in the cities of Wołomin - 5 , Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki – 3, Otwock – 2.

There are no such institutions in the city of Podkowa Leśna, and there are no nurseries at all in the cities of Zakroczym and Tarczyn.

A few words about the occupancy rate of nurseries. In the Warsaw Voivodeship and the capital region as a whole, there are, on average, 35 children per nursery, and in the capital there are already 41 children. This figure is significantly higher in the cities of Halinów 95, Otwock 78, Legionowo 50. At the same time, there are less than 20 children per nursery in the cities of Karczew, Góra Kalwaria, Piastów, Brwinów, Błonie, Łomianki, Kobyłka, Zielonka, Radzymin. In principle, the smaller the city, the fewer children in one nursery.

Now about the capacity of child care institutions. 100% occupancy of child care facilities in the cities of Milanówek, Kałuszyn, Błonie, Otwock, Kobyłka. In other suburbs, childcare facilities for children under 3 years of age are underutilized.

So, you can choose a city where there are places in nurseries for your children.

Now we will determine the most “childish” preschool city among the suburbs of Warsaw. To do this, we added the number of children in child care institutions under 3 years of age and the number of children in preschool education institutions (Table 4, columns on the right).

We obtained the number of preschool children in absolute numbers. You can get to know them yourself. And we offer you a calculation of the share of preschool children in the population of the corresponding cities near Warsaw. So, the highest weight of preschool children is in the city of Ząbki (7.4%). It deserves to bear the title of the most “childish” preschool city among the suburbs of Warsaw. Next in the share of preschoolers are the cities of Marki 6.5%, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Józefów, Ożarów Mazowiecki, Kobyłka - 6.4% each, Radzymin 6.2%, Grodzisk Mazowiecki 6.1%.

These cities, as well as Pruszków 5.9%, Piaseczno 5.8%, exceed the share of preschoolers in the capital - 5.3%. Another fact suggests that young families with small children are flocking to the suburbs.

Table 4. Childcare facilities for children under 3 years of age in the suburbs of Warsaw in 2021 (as of December 31)

And although our readers do not really need the topic of social security in Poland, we will still show how stationary social security facilities are located in the suburbs of Warsaw (Table 5). As you can see, there is room in them for guests.

Table 5. Stationary social security facilities in the suburbs of Warsaw in 2021 (as of December 31)

Let's see how cultural life develops in the suburbs of the Warsaw capital. It is represented mainly by the following institutions: public libraries, houses and cultural centers, clubs. Of course, their employees, visitors and participants in cultural events.

First, about libraries. The number of public libraries in cities varies greatly - from one to 10 (we remind you once again about the presence of rural settlements in a number of communes). The same applies to the book collection. The cities with the most readers are Piaseczno, Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Legionowo, Mińsk Mazowiecki, Pruszków, Wołomin.

But the most reading ones are residents of the cities of Serock, where 54.1 books were issued per reader per year, Podkowa Leśna - 39.1 books, Tarczyn 27.3, Józefów 26.8, Konstancin-Jeziorna - 24.0 books. Well, these are all small towns with not much entertainment.

In terms of the number of computers per library connected to the Internet and accessible to readers, the following cities look good: Kobyłka - 15 computers (in the only library in the city), Milanówek - 11 computers (in the only library in the city), Mrozy - 11 computers per library, Ożarów Mazowiecki – 10.3 computers, Mińsk Mazowiecki – 9 computers, Grodzisk Mazowiecki – 8, Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki – 6.25 computers per library. For comparison, in Warsaw there are 4 computers per library.

The indicator for population per library is not very informative, because where there is only one library, it is maximum.

Table 6. Public libraries (including branches) in the suburbs of Warsaw in 2021

*Status as of December 31. ** Including library service points. *** Includes interlibrary loan.

In the last section of this article, in the language of numbers, we will talk about such an area of cultural life in the suburbs of Warsaw, such as houses and cultural centers, clubs and circles.

First, we note that the number of cultural institutions, as well as the number of circles, clubs, and sections in them in the Warsaw province is greater than in the capital.

Now for the cities. Let’s say right away that there are cultural centers and clubs in every provincial city. The largest number of cultural centers are, of course, in large cities.

In many places, various events are held almost every other day, and all residents of these towns become participants.

A characteristic indicator is the number of circles and sections. So, in the only cultural centers of the following small cities there is an astronomical number of different circles, clubs, sections: Serock - 49, Ząbki - 41, Sulejówek and Kobyłka - 36 each, Konstancin-Jeziorna - 28. This is significantly more than in Warsaw - 24 .

The largest number of participants in art clubs and sports sections is in larger cities, such as Piaseczno - 2375 people, Wołomin - 1487. However, the towns of Józefów - 1132 people, Kobyłka - 1070 people are not far behind them in terms of coverage of club and sports work. And in terms of the number of students per resident, they are even significantly ahead of them.

And the last thing we want to talk about is finance for culture. We calculated the indicator of commune budget expenditures on culture and protection of national heritage per 1 resident. The range of allocated budget funds is large - from 31 zlotys per year per person in the city of Ząbki to 432.5 zlotys in the city of Podkowa Leśna. In addition to the city of Podkowa Leśna, significant budget funds are allocated for culture in the cities of Brwinów 432.4 zlotys, Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki 406.0, Kałuszyn 338.7, Konstancin-Jeziorna 312.7 zlotys. For comparison, in Warsaw there are 337.3 zlotys of budget funds per year per inhabitant. It turns out that only 4 provincial cities out of 33 correspond to the capital’s level of cultural funding. Local governments have more work to do in the cultural sector.

Table 7. Information on the activities of houses and cultural centers, clubs in the suburbs of Warsaw in 2021