1. How much time do I have for submitting an application under the Good Start programme?

An application for a benefit available from the programme may be submitted online from 1st July via empatia.mpips.gov.pl, e-banking or the PUE ZUS portal; from 1st August, it may also be filed in a traditional manner to the office or sent by post. The application may be submitted also after the summer, however not later than by 30th November.

However, in view of the current situation regarding the coronavirus epidemic, we encourage everyone to use mainly the online manner of submitting an application. The electronic submission of an application for benefit means not only speed and comfort, but also an expression of concern for our common safety in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

2. Who is entitled to submit such an application?

The application may be submitted by a child’s mother, father or legal guardian or a child’s actual guardian (the actual guardian is a person providing actual care of the child who applied for adoption of the child to the guardianship court).

3. Should the application for benefit be submitted by one parent or both?

Because of the one-off character of the benefit, the application should be submitted by one of the parents, legal guardian or actual guardian of the child. In case the child is covered by the care provided alternately by divorced or separated parents in comparable and repetitive periods, the amount of the Good Start benefit is determined for each parent as one half of the Good Start benefit to which they are entitled, i.e., PLN 150.

4. I have two children of school age. What kind of support will I receive?

The Good Start benefit is available once a year in the amount of PLN 300 per each child attending school up to the age of 20 years or – in the case of disabled children – up to the age of 24 years.

From 2019, students of post-secondary schools and schools for adults are also entitled to support under the programme.

Please remember that the benefit is not granted for children attending kindergarten and children attending a one-year preschool class (“zerówka”) in kindergarten or school.  The programme does not cover university students, either.

5. When will I receive support?

If the application was submitted in July or in August, the benefit will be paid not later than by 30th September. If the application was submitted at a later date, the family will receive support within two months from the date of submitting the application.

6. Do I have to wait for an administrative decision on granting support?

No. In the Good Start programme, the issuing and delivery of an administrative decision on granting support is not required. Persons applying for the benefit will receive information about its granting to the e-mail address stated in the application. In the absence of such address, information about granting the application can be gathered personally. It is important to know that failure to receive such information will not suspend the payment of the benefit.

Administrative decisions will be issued only in the case of refusal to grant the benefit and in cases of unduly collected benefits.

7. Is tax deducted on the amount of benefit?

No, the benefit under the Good Start programme is exempt from tax.