The Polish Ministry of Labor and Social Policy reports that Polish families had received PLN 42.62 bln over the course of the last two years.
Experts such as economist Jacek Tomkiewicz claim that poverty is decreasing in Poland due to the improvement of Poland’s economy and the Law and Justice’s (PiS) governmental social welfare programs such as 500+. “It is clearly visible that the social policies have a significant impact for reducing poverty in general. The 500+ program is for families with children, so for that group the program’s influence will be even greater,” he said.
500+ is not the only PiS social welfare program in 2018, the government also launched the “Good Start” program. 81 percent of schoolchildren received PLN 1.13 bln to purchase school accessories such as textbooks and notebooks.
It is clearly visible that the social policies have a significant impact for reducing poverty in general. The 500+ program is for families with children, so for that group the program’s influence will be even greater
Although Romania saw a 7.5 percentage point decrease (49.2 to 41.7 percent) in the Eurostat report, it still has the highest threat of child impoverishment in the European Union. Poland remains in the middle of the ranking.
Poland’s position looks even better when compared to that of 2006. Back then, Poland was in the lead among countries where the threat of child impoverishment and social exclusion was the highest with 42 percent. Poland was second only to Latvia (42.7 percent) and Bulgaria (61 percent).
