Unemployment is one of the most acute social issues. Th is phenomenon is complex and multidimensional, which is a threat to public safety – it brings negative consequences for the unemployed, their families and the whole society. With unemployment are related to other problems: social discontent, the load on the budget, professional deactivation, or even social marginalization. Unemployment can lead to family breakdown, or a general reduction in public health. Th erefore, the article presents the basic concepts associated with this phenomenon, but the scale of this phenomenon is shown by tests carried out on the basis of the data of the Central Statistical Offi ce and Labour Offi ces. In addition, based on the data of the Social Opinion Research Centre, examined the opinions of economically active people about their sense of threat of losing their jobs. All this is presented phenomenon of unemployment in Poland in two areas: unemployment recorded in the years 2005–2014 and the insecurity of losing current work among economically active persons in the years 2005–2015.