Over the past eight years, the number of childcare places for children under three across the country has almost tripled from 84,000 in 2015 to 232,000 in 2023.

In 2015, there were only 2.9 thousand care institutions nationwide. In June 2023, there were already more than 8 000. Today, on average, one in three children under the age of three is in nursery care, while it was one in nine eight years ago. It shows how much has already been achieved.

'However, we are not resting on our laurels; the spacing of care for the youngest children is crucial to parents. That is why we have increased the outlays for the Toddler+ programme to PLN 5.5 billion,' Minister of Family and Social Policy Marlena Maląg,' pointed out.

We eliminate white spots

The new version of the Toddler+ Programme solves significant problems. It overcomes many barriers that have hampered the development of a comprehensive institutional care system for the youngest children in Poland.

Thanks to the new rules, we are reaching out to every municipality in Poland and offering financial support to every interested municipal authority. As part of the call for proposals, which ended on 19 February this year, governors will sign agreements to create nearly 80,000 care places under the Toddler+ Programme, including approximately 38,000 care places by municipalities. Almost 40 per cent of these agreements concern so-called 'white spots', namely areas with a shortage of places in care institutions.

'Thus, the number of 'white spots' will be reduced from 1105 to 683,' Minister Marlena Maląg calculates.

Continuous enrolment in the Toddler+ Programme begins

Despite the settlement, the Programme continues to attract great interest. The Ministry of Family and Social Policy is constantly receiving enquiries as to whether there is a possibility to apply for funds.

'Therefore, we have announced another call for applications for funding - a continuous call. The same entities can apply for funds for the creation and operation of places as in the previous call. However, we still retain the principle of priority for municipalities,' the Head of the Ministry of the Family and Social Policy emphasised. As she added, the target for the new version of the Programme is to create over 102 thousand new care places for the youngest children.

Until when to apply?

Applications can be submitted until the end of 2025, the funds are exhausted, or the indicators are reached.

Funds will be distributed between local government units and other entities as part of the call. They will be directed primarily to municipalities where no care institutions operate.

'Together, we can achieve the goal of the Programme, which is to improve the quality of institutional care for children up to 3 years of age, which will contribute to an increase in the availability of care places throughout the country, as well as allowing parents to combine work with raising their youngest children.'

'Once again, we encourage all entities, especially municipalities, to apply for the available funds,' Minister of Family and Social Policy Marlena Maląg said.