The bill’s host is the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy. Adopted provisions constitute fulfilment of a promise made in April last year by the Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki.

Who is the “Mother 4+” programme aimed at?

The aim of the proposed provisions is to ensure income for persons, who resigned from employment or did not start any due to bringing up children in large families.  

• The parental supplementary benefit will be granted to a mother, who gave birth and brought up at least four children and in case of the child mother’s death or abandoning children by the mother – to father, who brought up at least four children;
• the benefit will be able to be applied for by persons, who have no necessary means of subsistence and reached the retirement pension age. In case of women 60 years and men – 65 years;
• the parental supplementary benefit will be vested solely in persons living in Poland and having had (from the age of 16) a so-called centre of vital interests in the territory of our country – for at least 10 years;
• the parental supplementary benefit will be possible to be obtained by Polish citizens or persons with the right of residence or the right of permanent residence in Poland, or citizens of the European Union Member States, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member states or foreigners legally staying in the territory of Poland;
• acquiring the right to the benefit will not be related to prior payment of social insurance contributions.

Upon entry into force of the new provisions, the persons fulfilling the criteria will be able to apply to the President of the Polish Social Insurance Institution or the President of the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund (Kasa Rolniczego Ubezpieczenia Społecznego) in order to obtain the right to the benefit. In case the interested person has already been receiving a benefit lower than the lowest retirement pension, the parental benefit will supplement the received benefit up to the amount of the lowest retirement pension (as of 1 March 2019 - PLN 1,100). Whereas, in the case of a person with no right to any benefit the amount of the parental supplementary benefit will be equal to this amount. Before payment thereof, the Polish Social Insurance Institution or the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund (Kasa Rolniczego Ubezpieczenia Społecznego) will review, among others, the income situation of a given person.

Appreciate the effort, protect against poverty

– The government of the United Right from the beginning has appreciated the effort of parents, who decided to bring up children in large families. With new provisions we wish to honour persons, who in order to bring up at least four children, resigned from professional work and today live at the verge of poverty with no rights to benefits, even at a minimal level. The parental supplementary benefit will now provide them with basic means of subsistence – says the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy, Elżbieta Rafalska.

It is estimated that approx. 65 thousand persons, who today have no right to the retirement pension or pension and 20.8 thousand persons who receive benefits below the level of the lowest retirement pension, will benefit from the new provisions.  

The parental supplementary benefit will be indexed annually.