So many Ukrainians take 800 plus. ZUS provided new data

As indicated by the data of the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), in the first half of this year 800 plus was paid to 365.3 thousand. Children of foreigners. It’s 1.5 percent less than in the same period last year. The amount of benefits paid amounted to PLN 1.613 billion, by 4.5 percent. less than a year ago. Experts emphasize that the above data indicate the stabilization of the number of applicants in the medium period.

– If you remove political or ideological issues from the analysis, these 365.3 thous. Children of foreigners using the program can be combined with a inheritance forecast of population in Poland, which in ten years can be close to 36 million compared to today’s 37.4 million. As you can see, the additional 365 thousand whether 370,000 children of foreigners receiving the benefit does not reverse this negative trend -comments Dr. Tomasz Rzychoń, chief economist of the University of Economics and Humanities in Bielsko-Biała.

How many Ukrainians download 800 plus?

It is not surprising that the largest group of beneficiaries of 800 plus are the children of Ukrainian citizens. ZUS data shows that during the January-June period, the benefit went to 305,000. children and a total of PLN 1.4 billion was allocated to them. In the first half of 2024, 800 plus received 315.5 thousand. Ukrainians, or over 10,000 more.

– Some children using the program in previous years have now reached the age at which the benefit is no longer available. In addition, changes in the legal status of Ukrainian citizens are progressing, e.g. obtaining Polish citizenship, which changes the statistical classification. It cannot be ruled out that some families did not renew the applications or did not meet the formal conditions. In general, therefore, these data, in my opinion, do not indicate a decrease in interest in the program, but rather about changes in the structure of the Ukrainian population in Poland – emphasizes Dr. Tomasz Kopyściański from the University of WSB Merito.

Other beneficiaries of 800 plus were applicants with Belarusian citizenship (24.7 thousand), as well as Romanian (over 7,000), Russian (almost 4,000), Indian (2.8 thousand), Vietnamese (2.7 thousand), Georgian (over 2,000), Bulgarian (1,800), Mołdawski (1,100) and Chinese (833 people).

– Increases among citizens of India or Vietnam may be associated with the influx of IT sector employees, gastronomy or logistics. Educational benefit is available to all legally staying and working parents, which makes them an attractive element of family support. These data show that Poland is becoming an increasingly diverse country in terms of nationality – comments an expert from the University of WSB Merito.

We would like to remind you that on Monday, President Karol Nawrocki announced that he did not sign the amendment to the Act on assistance for Ukrainian citizens. He explained that his decision results from the belief that 800 plus should be directed only to those Ukrainians who take up work or conduct business activity in Poland.