Background information

An amendment to the Act on State Aid for Child-rearing (Act of 7 July 2023 amending the Act on State aid for the upbringing of children, Dz.U. 2023 poz. 1565), raised the amount of the child-rearing benefit (500+) by PLN 300 - from PLN 500 to PLN 800. The higher amount will be in force from 1 January 2024.

The change of the amount of the received benefit will take place without the need to submit an additional application.

Content of measure

The '500+ benefit' is paid for each child in a family or in a care facility. From 1 January 2024, the benefit will be increased to PLN 800 (€179.5, as of 3 November 2023) per month. The '500+ benefit' is also available to Ukrainian citizens who are legally resident in Poland and who have a child under their care (as a parent or temporary guardian) who is a Ukrainian citizen and who arrived in Poland from Ukraine after 23 February 2022.

It is estimated that the cost of the benefit in 2024 will be around PLN 65 billion (€14,8 billion).

Use of measure

According to the 2021 National Population and Housing Census, there are 7,000,600 children aged 0-17.

From January to June 2023, the 500+ benefit for Ukrainian children was paid 1.8 million times.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Does not apply to businesses	Children (minors) Parents Single parents

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Social partners jointly
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

The increase of the 800+ benefit was consulted with employers' organisations (i.e. Business Centre Club, Konfederacja Lewiatan, Federacja Przedsiębiorców Polskich, Pracodawcy RP, Związek Przedsiębiorców i Pracodawców, Związek Rzemiosła Polskiego) and trade unions (i.e. NSZZ "Solidarność", Ogólnopolskie Porozumienie Związków Zawodowych, Forum Związków Zawodowych) in the Social Dialogue Council.

Views and reactions

Employers' organisations and trade unions sitting on the Social Dialogue Council failed to reach a common position on raising the benefit "500+" to PLN 800 (€179.5 as of 3 November 2023).

There is a lack of information on the positions of the social partners reported during the legislative process. Opinions of representatives of some social partners on this issue can be found in the media.

The Union of Polish Entrepreneurs (ZPP) called for the introduction of an income threshold in the 500+ programme, above which the benefit received would be reduced on a zloty for zloty basis.

The All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions (OPZZ) positively assessed the increase of the 500+ benefit to 800. OPZZ calls for an annual valorisation of the benefit.

Sources

• 31 May 2022: Report on the preliminary results of the 2021 Census (stat.gov.pl)
• 14 May 2023: 800+ could cost £25 billion more (www.rp.pl)
• 14 May 2023: PiS increases 500+ to 800+. The cost of the programme will increase to PLN 64 billion a year (wyborcza.biz)
• 24 May 2023: ZPP on the valorisation of the 500+ programme (www.infor.pl)
• 07 July 2023: Act of 7 July 2023 amending the Act on State aid for the upbringing of children (isap.sejm.gov.pl)
• 10 July 2023: Sejm supports raising the 500+ benefit to 800+ _ All-Poland Trade Union Agreement (www.opzz.org.pl)
• 08 September 2023: Plenary meeting of the Social Dialogue Council (www.gov.pl)
• 18 September 2023: In six months 500 plus for 2 million foreigners (businessinsider.com.pl)