Harm to children. Mixed marriages have problems with payment of PLN 800+
The rules for granting the 800+ parental benefit are clear, and yet Polish courts interpret them differently when it comes to the allowance for children from Polish-foreign families.
Currently, there are between 2.3 and 2.5 million foreigners living in Poland, whose stay can be described as long-term. In December 2025, the number of foreign children receiving the 800+ childcare benefit decreased significantly to 325.3 thousand (by 6.5%) compared to 347.7 thousand children in December 2024 – calculated by the Social Insurance Institution.
This is due to the introduction of a regulation that makes the payment of the benefit dependent on the parents’ professional activity and on fulfilling compulsory education in Poland. However, children from mixed couples face additional obstacles.
Children of mixed couples born in Poland have trouble accessing 800+
The Ombudsman (Ombudsman) intervened regarding gaps in the 800+ regulations, which limit access to benefits for some children from Polish-foreign couples and orphaned children. The problem concerns, among others: lack of opportunities for temporary caregivers to obtain support, which violates the rights of the child.
The regulations exclude children under guardianship of a guardianship court (e.g. after the death of their parents or in multicultural families where the other parent is a foreigner) if they do not meet strict residence requirements. According to the Ombudsman, the current rules are inconsistent with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and the Convention on the Rights of the Child because they deprive children of due assistance because the legislator did not provide for the child’s citizenship as a condition for granting childcare benefits.
The money should follow the child, regardless of the parent’s status
“The difficulties are particularly visible in cases involving families with mixed citizenship status, in which the child has Polish citizenship, while the parent applying for the benefit has the citizenship of another country. The administrative authorities treat the parent’s residence status as a negative condition, even when the child is a citizen of the Republic of Poland and lives in the territory of Poland,” explained the Ombudsman.
The Supreme Administrative Court commented on this case: “The citizenship and residence status of the person applying for family benefits is not a decisive criterion.” As the Supreme Administrative Court emphasized, “the criterion of Polish citizenship of the actual beneficiary of the benefit, i.e. the minor child, is important.”
