Up to 30 percent of household budgets go on children

It costs anything between PLN 176,000 and 190,000 (EUR 40,000-43,000) to bring up a child in Poland, a report by the Adam Smith Center (CAS) in Warsaw says.

The overall expenses allocated to bringing up kids until they reach adulthood rise to the range of PLN 317,000-342,000 (72,000-79,000) in the case of two kids and PLN 422,000-427,000 (96,000-97,000) in the case of three.

“We continue to see a very high share of household budgets going to child rearing, with no signs of [this] diminishing,” the head of the center, Andrzej Sadowski, said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Such high costs are the result of a fiscal policy pursued by successive governments, experts say. They point to labour and indirect taxation, particularly VAT, as the main factors.

The experts warn the high costs of bringing up kids along with the difficult situation on the labour market are some of the key reasons behind the low birthrate in Poland.

“We are facing a demographic crisis. This is no longer just a problem but a crisis,” Ireneusz Jabłoński, an analyst with CAS, said. The birth rate in Poland, standing at 1.32, is one of the lowest in Europe.

“If the current fertility rates remain as they are, our population will simply shrink by a third over the course of two generations,” he added.

The Central Statistical Office (GUS) predicts that the number of Poles will drop from 38.4 million in 2014 to 36 million in 2035. (aba/pk)

Source: PAP