Polish gov't approves new payouts for families
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
01.02.2016 16:09
The Polish government on Monday approved new payouts designed to encourage families to have more children.
PM Beata Szydło. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Giving families handouts of PLN 500 a month - a move aimed at counteracting Poland’s demographic problems - was a key pledge by the Law and Justice (PiS) party ahead of the country’s 25 October general election.
Law and Justice, which positioned itself as a champion of working people, won a landslide victory in the ballot.
"Support for families is the top priority for my government […] today I can say that I have kept my word," Prime Minister Beata Szydło told a press conference in parliament on Monday.
"A child is the best form of investment in the future. This is not a cost, it’s an investment,” she added.
With its “500+” programme, the new PiS government aims to ease the burdens of child-rearing by giving families with two or more children a handout of PLN 500 (USD 123, EUR 113) a month per child.
Poorer families will receive the allowance even if they have just one child. The government wants the benefits, which will cost it some PLN 17 billion this year, to kick in from April.
The programme has attracted controversy, with some arguing that richer families should not claim the new allowance, even though they will be entitled to do so. (pk)