The census of 2002 confirmed the substantial social and economic changes which had taken place in Poland in period between the census of 1988 and that of 2002. The demographic structure of Polish society changed then, as did the structure of the households and their sources of income. Criteria for examining family budgets which have been used to date no longer reflect the actual situation. The data concerning households, published by the Central Statistical Office (GUS), can help in determining how the income structure of Polish households was changing in the said period. The paper presents changes in the level and structure of household incomes in connection with Poland's social and economic situation in the period from the beginning of the transformation process until 2001.