Deputy Minister Talks About PiS Program Failures. 800+ to Be Changed?

In an interview with “Dziennik Gazeta Prawna”, Aleksandra Gajewska, Deputy Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy, did not hide the fact that Poland’s demographic situation is very difficult. “We are in a very bad demographic situation. Actions that could reverse the demographic collapse should have been taken several years ago. Meanwhile, eight years of PiS rule have brought solutions that have absolutely not improved the situation,” she said.

The birth rate in Poland is plummeting

Let us recall that in 2023, only 272,000 children will be born in Poland, which means a decrease of 33,000 (11%) compared to the previous year.

Gajewska sees the solution to this problem in a broad strategy that will have a positive impact on family and social policy, the conditions of Polish families, the situation of women, the labor market and the issue of access to housing. – Only an improvement in the situation in all these areas will be able to cause more children to be born in Poland – said the deputy head of the Ministry of Family and added that in her opinion the demographic strategy for Poland should be written from scratch.

She assured that since the change of government, the new management of the ministry has been analyzing the reasons why young people do not want to have children. – According to the Central Statistical Office, one of the problems is the lack of access to early childhood care. In connection with this, we are trying, among other things, to create new nurseries. But we know that more factors influence young people’s decisions in this area – financial guarantees, stable work, availability of housing, good health care, as well as the issue of education – she enumerated.

Does the ministry want to introduce changes to 800+?

There is a huge scope for improvement here, because according to MRPiPS data, 1,046 municipalities in Poland do not have any form of institutional care for children under three – neither public nor private. This is 42% of municipalities.

– For this very reason, we changed the “Maluch plus” program to “Aktywny maluch”, increasing the amount of funding from PLN 36,000 to PLN 57,000 for one new care place, and made the entire program more flexible – explained Gajewska.

The deputy minister was asked whether the ministry was working on changes to the Family 800+ program. She assured that none of its conditions would deteriorate.

– Just as we guaranteed during the election campaign – this program is here to stay and from January 1 we will continue it with an increased amount of PLN 800 – she added.