The Rozwój Plus association, set up by former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, has published a report calling for a new “parental salary” of PLN 4,806 gross per month to replace selected family benefits. The proposal is a response to Poland’s worsening demographic situation and would apply to one parent of a child aged 0-3.
According to the report, described by the daily “Fakt”, the current family-support toolkit has failed to produce lasting change. The association argues that the system needs to be rebuilt because the demographic crisis is deepening.
In the report’s view, the 500 plus programme initially sparked a short-lived increase in births, but the fertility rate has been declining since 2017. Even after the benefit was adjusted upward to 800 zloty, the document says it remains far from adequate.
– After the introduction of the 500 plus benefit there was a temporary increase, but since 2017 fertility has been falling. Today this instrument is far from sufficient, despite its indexation to 800 zloty – the report’s authors wrote.
GUS forecasts for Poland’s population
The analysis cites projections from Poland’s Central Statistical Office (GUS), which show the country’s population falling to 30.9 million by 2060, almost 7 million fewer than in 2022.
By 2050, as many as 40 percent of Poles are expected to be of post-working age, and by 2060 that proportion could reach 64 percent. Such a shift, the report warns, would have serious consequences for the labour market and the pension system, and may be difficult to reverse.
How the proposed parental salary would work
Under the plan, one parent of a child up to three years old would receive a monthly parental salary equal to the current minimum wage, PLN 4,806 gross. Unlike many existing transfers, the payment would be taxed and subject to social security contributions.
– The parental salary will be subject to social security contributions and taxed like any remuneration for work, thanks to which in the future parents will have a higher pension – the report states.
The new benefit is intended to replace current entitlements for children aged 0-3, including the 800 plus and babciowe programmes. The projected gross cost of the new scheme is about PLN 40-42 billion per year, while the net cost after scrapping the listed benefits would drop to roughly PLN 23-25 billion.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. PAP/Leszek Szymański
