The Polish government April 1 officially launched the ruling party’s PiS flasghip child benefits program 500+ on Friday, with PM Beata Szydlo attending a special conference. Poles who have children may now apply for a monthly subsidy of PLN 500.
“This is a very important day today. The 500 Plus program has been launched,” Szydlo said in front of her office on Friday.Over 20,000 applications for PLN 500 child subsidy have already been registered via the Internet, she also said.
The PLN 500+ program is a flagship campaign proposal of governing party Law and Justice (PiS). The subsidy is available for every second and consecutive children under 18 regardless of household income as well as for the first child in lower-earning households (PLN 800 per capita monthly income or PLN 1,200 in the case of disabled children).
According to the impact assessment, the cost of the bill will reach PLN 17.05 billion in 2016 and PLN 22.57 billion annually in subsequent years.
The government expects the program will be financed from stable tax sources in 2017 and the following years, Finance Minister Pawel Szalamacha told Polska The Times in an interview. Therefore, the ministry is currently focusing on improving tax collection efficiency, he said.
Some 30% of Poles believe the program will increase the number of births in Poland.
Among factor discouraging from having more children, Poles enumerate low wages, high costs of raising children, lack of stable source of income and insufficient financial support from the state.
Poles also mention poor access to nurseries and preschools as discouragement.
