The Family 500+ program is regarded as the best or one of the best ways of supporting families. As a result of it, 49% of Poles express a favourable opinion on the state’s family policy initiatives. For comparison, such opinion was expressed only by 9% of them in 2012.

Financial support helps to struggle for children’s health

The families with disabled children that have already received the Family 500+ benefit admit that it is huge support for the budget. ‘The quality of life has improved for my whole family. The money from this program helped us finance swimming pool activities, hippotherapy for our disabled son and his rehabilitation,’ says Mariola Skóra from the Świętokrzyskie Province. She adds that part of this support has been invested as deposit. It is intended for children’s future.

‘As the mother of two disabled children, I strongly feel the benefits of the government’s program. The boys are preemies and twins, and they have needed intensive motor, speech and psychological rehabilitation. During the last three years, our financial situation has become much better, which leads to improvement of our sons’ health,’ adds Aleksandra Czaja-Pater, the mother of the boys. ‘We have spent the first funds from the program for the purchase of safe child seats, which the boys have used till today. Apart from that, we could afford the devices that develop motor ability and help to maintain balance: a springboard, bicycles, go-karts or scooters,’ she adds.

The Kubacki family from Zabrze admits that a disabled child is often a heavy burden for the home budget. ‘My Malwinka is autistic and has a moderate degree of developmental delay. She requires rehabilitation and therapy. Thanks to the 500+ program, we can receive support from a psychiatrist and a neurologist. I can also provide my daughter with a larger number of teaching aids, including the toys that stimulate her development. We also visit more often such places as playrooms or cinemas, where Malwinka is not afraid to stay. The program is a significant relief for parents of children with all kinds of disabilities.

Aneta from the Świętokrzyskie Province says that child care benefit is huge support in the everyday life of her four-person family. ‘We bring up two daughters; the younger of them, 9-year-old Hania, is a disabled child, which heavily burdens our budget. Thanks to the money from this program, we can afford extra speech therapy, rehabilitation, plastic art and swimming pool activities. All of them have a very favourable impact on the development of our daughter. Money transfers to the child care benefit account gave us the creditworthiness that allowed us to make an instalment purchase of expensive rehabilitation equipment, such as a mattress with a magnetic field or a rehabilitation bicycle. The 500+ program is an invaluable help for us, which we particularly appreciate and for which we are very grateful.’

Disability is not a limitation for family

Money from the government’s program has improved the standard of living for families with disabled children. ‘We bring up three children, and one of them is disabled. The financial support allows our family to spend leisure time actively, also outside our place of residence,’ says Liliana Czubkowska from Zelów, Łódź Province.

The program also allows families to take advantage of the cultural and sports offer. ‘We go to the cinema, the swimming pool, amusement parks, and we make trips. Thanks to this, the boys could try skiing under the instructor’s eye or go to the seaside in summer and sightsee the beautiful corners of Poland: Warsaw, Kraków, Gdańsk, and such places as the zoo, the seal centre, the aquarium, the circus or castles,’ says Aleksandra Czaja-Pater, the mother of children. ‘Disability is not a limitation for our family; we try to ensure that our sons do not become isolated from society and see and learn as much as possible,’ she says.

‘Thanks to the program, we could afford a place of our own. Until recently, we have rented various lodgings, and now the girls have adequate conditions for developing and learning,’ says the Kubacki family. ‘The extension of the 500+ program onto the first child will certainly help families like it helped us, and we hope that this program continues to develop and support families,’ she says.

Changes from 1 July

From 1 July 2019, the new rules of the program will apply. The draft act on the amendment of the act on state support in child upbringing that was submitted for social consultations in the second half of March puts an end to the criterion of income in granting a child care benefit. ‘Along with the cancellation of the income test, the number of only children covered by the benefit will increase by 2 million. Altogether, around 2.5 million families with one child will be entitled to the 500+ benefit,’ says Elżbieta Rafalska, Minister for Family, Labour and Social Policy, adding that the program will cover as many as 6.8 million children altogether.  Support is also extended to families with many children. In February 2019, 380,300 families (16% of families participating in the program) were entitled to benefits.