The “Family 500+” programme activated on 1 April 2016 is a true revolution in the Polish family policy. Earlier a coherent and well-thought-out policy supporting Polish families was missing and then existing solutions were of a partial and very selective character. The “Family 500+” programme is the first one as of the system transformation that so explicitly underlines the necessity to invest in family, which provides actual support. Furthermore, this is also the programme in which the Government expresses its trust in families, respect of their autonomy – the families themselves decide, what they wish to spend this benefit on.

The “Family 500+” programme as of the beginning provides PLN 500 on the second and each next child and in case of families with lower incomes - also on the first child. As of activating the “Family 500+” programme it has cost approximately PLN 68 billion. Today, 3.62 million children benefit from the programme, that is, 52 percent of all children until the age of 18 (status at the end of February 2019). In practice, this is PLN 6 thousand on a child per year. The child-support benefit is tax-free and no contributions are paid thereon. It means that it is granted in full amount. In 2015, total state budget expenditures on Polish families amounted to 1.78 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. In 2017 it was already 3.11 percent of the GDP. It stands for an increase of 75 percent.