The presentation of the Demographic Strategy took place at a press conference held on 17 June 2021. This is the first document of this type – no previous government in Poland has addressed this challenge, although demography is one of the key challenges we will face as a society in the coming decades.

– Today, we face a historic challenge related to unfavourable trends in the area of demography, i.e. a decline in the fertility rate accompanied by the ageing of the Polish society. Therefore, we decided to develop a comprehensive and multi-annual Demographic Strategy – said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at the conference. – Thanks to the fact that the work on it was taking place in parallel with the Polish Deal, we had the opportunity to create two strategically important and, at the same time, perfectly complementary plans – the best evidence of which is the fact that some Polish Deal programmes directly follow the directions defined in the Demographic Strategy. In this way, we can act quickly and I strongly believe that we will be able to stop the negative trends and, in the long term, to reverse them and make it possible for the Poles to build happy families, as large as they really want – added Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

During the presentation of the Strategy, Marlena Maląg, Minister of Family and Social Policy, stressed that strengthening Polish families had been a priority of the United Right government since the taking over of the rule in 2015.

– Our demographic strategy is compatible with the Strategy for Responsible Development and with the Polish Deal. It sets directions and shows the comprehensiveness of the measures aimed at improving the demographic structure of the country. We propose to develop and complement the existing measures for families such as the “500+ Programme”, “Good Start”, “Toddler+” and “Large Family Card” and we are undertaking new programmes which, thanks to their comprehensiveness, will remove all barriers to improving the fertility rate. Investing in families and creating the best conditions for them to function and have children is the Polish raison d’etat. So, it should take place above divisions and be continued without any interruptions for subsequent generations – added Minister Maląg.

The details of the diagnosis and the objectives and areas of intervention of the Demographic Strategy 2040 were discussed by the Government Plenipotentiary for Demographic Policy, Barbara Socha. She stressed that if we did not take informed, stable, coherent and comprehensive measures, we would be at risk of halting the development – which would have an adverse impact on the living conditions of Polish families in the future. However, we still have a chance to avoid such a scenario.

- We have examined, inter alia, how the perfect family looks according to the Poles. The proposals are encouraging: the family is still our priority in life. Unfortunately, many people have fewer children than they declare they would like to have. Therefore, our main task will be to make it possible for our compatriots to meet their expectations and dreams with regard to a happy family – said Barbara Socha, Government Plenipotentiary for Demography. – During the work on the strategy, we have identified as many as 10 areas that make it difficult – including areas requiring urgent action: housing, combining work and childcare as well as health, education and infrastructure. They will be affected by numerous Polish Deal programmes but we also have new proposals related to increasing the flexibility and stability of work, which – according to research – is important for making decisions on having children – said Barbara Socha.

Objectives of the Demographic Strategy 2040

The Demographic Strategy 2040 focuses on the fertility rate, because, in the long term, this is the best way to restore the favourable demographic structure of the Polish society. Therefore, the strategic objective proposed by the authors of the document is to get out of the trap of low fertility rate and to move closer to the level of fertility that guarantees the replacement of generations.

The experts identified 10 areas affecting the decision on having children and proposed 12 areas of intervention under the 3 specific objectives. These are:

Specific objective 1 – Strengthening the family:

• financial security for families (consistently implemented since 2015 by means of numerous programmes, including Family 500+)
• support in meeting the housing needs of families (HOUSING priority area)
• support for the stability of families,
• promotion of a family-friendly culture,
• strengthening cooperation with the third sector and other entities acting for the benefit of families,

Specific objective 2 - Removal of barriers for parents who want to have children

• development of a family-friendly labour market (WORK priority area)
• development of forms of childcare (CARE priority area implemented since 2015)
• development of health care (HEALTH priority area)
• improvement in the quality and organisation of education,
• development of infrastructure and services needed by families,

Specific objective 3 - Improvement in the quality of policy management and implementation

• improvement in the quality of policy management and implementation at the central level,
• improvement in the quality of policy management and implementation at the local government level.

The result is a catalogue of 104 different measures, many of which will be implemented under the Polish Deal programmes. They include, inter alia, the Family Care Capital, Housing without Own Contribution, Housing Voucher, My house of 70 m², Toddler Plus, increase in inputs for health and programmes that indirectly implement the Strategy demands – such as the Common Room and Day Nursery at each commune.

Increasing the flexibility and stability of work

The studies conducted prior to the development of the Strategy showed that the sense of financial security had a major impact on the decision to have a child. Therefore, under the Demographic Strategy 2040, the Government proposes the introduction of additional solutions to increase the flexibility and stability of work.

Solutions to increase the flexibility of work:

Guaranteed flexible work for pregnant women and parents of children below 4 years of age (remote work, hybrid work or flexible working time). The choice will depend on the nature of the work performed and will be made on the basis of an agreement between the employer and the employee.

Guaranteed reduced-hour work for pregnant women and parents of children below 4 years of age, extended by the provision that the employer must not discriminate against the employee on the grounds of the working time by depriving them of employee privileges. 

Guaranteed simultaneous application of various flexible forms, depending on the nature of the work performed (made in the form of an agreement between the employer and the employee).

Solutions to increase the stability of work:

Limited possibility of concluding contracts of employment for a definite period of time with persons below 40 to a maximum of 2 contracts, for a total duration of not more than 15 months.

Protection against dismissal for both parents (currently this protection applies to mothers). The proposal for changes includes:

Extension of the provision and covering mothers with protection for up to one year after returning to work from maternity or parental leave (irrespective of the working time).

Introduction of protection for fathers during the first year of the child’s life. In the case of married couples, this protection would apply from the moment the wife becomes pregnant.

Introduction of an obligation to inform the employee of parental rights when signing the contract of employment.

The stability of work and related stable income of the family are important for making a decision on having a child. And when the child is born and parental leave is over, it is essential to combine the professional responsibilities of both parents with childcare, hence the decision on including this area in the priority areas of action.

Improvement in the quality of healthcare in the context of demography

In the studies conducted prior to the development of the Strategy, nearly 35 percent of respondents declared that the quality of the healthcare system (including paediatric healthcare) had an impact on their decision to have children. The issue of pre- and perinatal care was indicated by the respondents almost equally often.

Increase in expenses for healthcare to 7% is one of the foundations of the Polish Deal. The programme also provides for a number of measures directly addressing the problems reported by the respondents (e.g. common and free access to pre-natal tests).

Improvement in the quality of healthcare is also one of the priority areas of intervention of the Demographic Strategy 2040, as part of which additional measures, not included in the Polish Deal, are recommended.

One of them is the creation (in cooperation with the local government) of a model centre involved in procreational health. The centre will provide:

Comprehensive, high-level specialist care of infertile couples and couples which experienced miscarriage,

parents awaiting their child to be born,

family after the birth of the child;

Education of medical staff and patients;

Possibility to conduct scientific and research activities.

The details of the solutions in this area will be presented in consultation with the Ministry of Health once the stage of arrangements is finished.

How the Demographic Strategy 2040 was created

The document has been drawn up on the basis of a multi-month analysis of studies and more than 650 scientific sources from Poland and abroad. A particular emphasis has been put on removing barriers and creating conditions for the creation and development of families as a place where new members of the community meet the world and are subject to basic socialisation.

Representatives of many interest groups, including ministries, local authorities and socio-economic partners and research centres, participated in the preparation of the strategy. The preparation of the document has been preceded by consultations, inter alia, with representatives of women’s and family organisations, employers and scientific environments as well as by an analysis of the studies aimed at determining the conditions for improving the demographic condition of Poland. An in-depth review of national and international research and instruments supporting the implementation of procreation plans introduced in the countries of Europe, Asia and the United States has been undertaken. The Family Council and the Government Population Council participated actively in the work on the Strategy.

The achievement of the objectives of the Demographic Strategy 2040 is related to the implementation of the fundamental projects identified in the Strategy for Responsible Development (SRD) and requires the implementation of a number of new initiatives. Central and local government, social organisations and civic movements, churches and religious associations, representatives of the world of science, creators and experts will be involved in the implementation of the Demographic Strategy.

Consultations of the Demographic Strategy 2040

The document presented is a draft strategy that will be widely consulted with all stakeholders. All information on the Demographic Strategy 2040 is available on the website of the Government Plenipotentiary for Demographic Policy -https://www.gov.pl/demografia