The impact of demographic processes on changes in services. An example of the Silesian Voivodeship

The aim of this article is to show the impact of demographic changes on the situation in the services of the Silesian Voivodeship and its selected cities. The analysis covers the period of 1999–2019. The method of comparative analysis was applied in the study. The presented material does not allow defining the nature of this impact unambiguously. The dominant trend in the population decline in the voivodship and in most of its cities does not automatically result in a decline in the level of the development of services. We also observe stabilization or even its increase. This also applies to those services that are addressed to people of pre-working age, i.e. the group with the largest regression in the population. However, the dynamic growth in the number of seniors results in a significant increase in the number of institutions and social programs addressed to them. Yet, there is no doubt that services addressed to the elderly do not fully meet the needs of this group of residents today, and taking into account demographic forecasts, they must show high dynamics of development in the forthcoming years.