The Family 500+ programme was launched in April 2016. This is the flagship programme of the United Right government, which has changed the perception of the state’s policy towards families. The support for families with children stopped being identified with social assistance and started being treated as an investment in the family.

This was and is our main goal – says the Minister of Family and Social Policy, Marlena Maląg. - Instead of saying that there is no and there will be no money, as our predecessors did, we proved that multi-billion expenditures on the family-oriented policy are possible. Instead of stigmatising families, especially large families, who made use of state aid, we showed that the support can be universal and should be treated as an investment in the family, which pays off for everyone – the state, self-governments and, naturally, families themselves – adds Minister Maląg

The investment is already counted in billions of PLN. Since the launch of the programme until the end of this January, families have already received PLN 177.9 billion. More than 6.5 million children are covered with the support.

Important change, logical closure

At the beginning – from April 2016 – the child-raising benefit was granted for the second and subsequent children. The support could also be obtained for the first child, understood as the oldest or the only child below 18 but after meeting the income criterion.

However, in 2019 the United Right government expanded the formula of the programme. As from 1 July 2019, the income criterion stopped to apply and all parents can make use of the benefit, regardless of income or the number of children in the family. In 2019, the procedures were also simplified. Since then, the granting of the benefit has not required issuing and delivering an administrative decision.

The extension of the programme was a logical closure of the first version of the programme. This is a natural consequence of the amendments to the policy towards families proposed by the United Right government – says Minister Marlena Maląg.

However, the Minister of Family and Social Policy stresses that the most important assumptions of the programme have remained unchanged from the very beginning. It is up to the families to decide on what to spend their child-raising benefits.

Real support

The Family 500+ programme is the real financial support for families, which in many cases restored their dignity, allowed them to manage their home budget in the more comfortable manner and simply saved many children from poverty. This aspect of dignity is as important as all statistics regarding the programme. Thanks to the child-raising benefit, we opened up development prospects for people who have been pushed to the margins so far – says Minister Marlena Maląg.

This is confirmed by the CBOS studies conducted in March 2021. Poles most often point to the positive impact of the Family 500+ programme on household budgets – the possibility of easier management of money by families receiving the child-raising benefit. 36% of respondents declare that they know in person people to whom it applies or are in such a situation themselves. 33% of respondents also indicate a significant improvement in the situation of children from poor families.

The effects of the programme can also be seen in the statistics.

• In 2020, the level of average monthly available income per person is PLN 1,919 – by PLN 533 more than in 2015.
• In 2020, available income per 1 person in households with at least three children aged 0-17 was by 64% higher than in 2015.
• The introduction of the child-raising allowance has also played a key role in reducing the extent of extreme poverty in Poland in recent years.
• In 2020, the extent of extreme poverty among children (aged 0-17) was 5.9%. Before 2016, this indicator was at the level of 9-10%, and after the introduction of the child-raising benefit in 2016, its significant decrease was recorded.

Long-term nature of demographic processes

What about the fertility rate? – The issue of the demographic crisis is an extremely important topic. It is characteristic of all developed countries, basically the whole of Europe struggles with it. One of the main factors affecting the number of births is the number of potential parents – and this is decreasing. In the 90s of the last century, far fewer children were born than in the 80s, when we were dealing with the so-called secondary baby boom – says Minister Marlena Maląg.

The number of births is significantly determined by the number of women of childbearing age, and this population in Poland has been systematically shrinking since 2000. Only between 2015 and 2020, the population of women of childbearing age shrank by more than 320 thousand persons.

The long-term nature of demographic processes speaks in favour of looking at the perspective of more than one year when assessing birth data. Therefore, if we take into account the years 2016-2020, the total number of births at that time was about 1.9 million and was 103.4 thousand higher than in the high option of the Statistics Poland’s demographic forecast and 7.9 thousand higher than assumed in the impact assessment of the regulation to the Act on state aid in raising children.

If we take into account the Statistics Poland’s estimates regarding the number of births in 2021, in the years 2016-2021 the number of births will be about 2.23 million and will still be higher than in the high option of the Statistics Poland’s demographic forecast – says Minister Marlena Maląg.

Call for applications is underway

Currently, the call for applications for the new benefit period is underway. The right to receive the benefit is determined for the period from 1 June to 31 May of the next calendar year. Applications can be submitted electronically, i.e. via the Empatia portal, through electronic banking or the PUE ZUS portal. The benefit is granted for each child, regardless of family income or the number of children in the family.