According to Eurostat data, the labour market situation in Poland remains significantly better than the EU average. Interestingly, the youth unemployment rate in Poland in October this year was lower than a year ago and lower than in the previous month as well as lower than in EU countries.

A draft Act on Personal Assistance developed on the initiative of the Government Plenipotentiary for Disabled People, Łukasz Krasoń, has been added to the legislative work schedule of the Council of Ministers. In particular, it assumes a higher number of assisted hours than guaranteed under the current legislative arrangements, as well as a possibility of determining the right to support for several years rather than just one year. This is an important step towards ensuring greater independence for persons with disabilities.

Good news for parents of babies born prematurely! The Sejm has passed a law introducing additional maternity leave for parents of babies born prematurely and those who had to be hospitalised over a longer period after birth due to their health condition. This is up to 15 weeks of additional leave.

Data from the Statistics Poland shows that the unemployment rate in October this year stood at 4.9%, a number even lower than the estimates of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy.

PLN 300 for a school starter pack for every student – that's the Good Start programme. Those who have not yet applied for the benefit this year should hurry – you can only apply until the end of November.

The development of digital technologies brings with it enormous changes, which are just now gaining extraordinary momentum. We should not be afraid of them, but we must be prepared for them,’ stressed the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, opening the conference 'Social and economic consequences of the digital transformation'.

Prepared at the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, the regulations governing the mechanism for granting an honorary benefit to centenarians will come into force on 1 January 2025. What does this mean in practice? The benefit of 6,200 gross per month will be granted ex officio and, importantly, valorised annually. The President has just signed the Act to this effect.

Czechs, Finns, Portuguese, Lithuanians and Slovaks have long been enjoying the 24th of December as the public holiday. Why Polish workers should not benefit from this day? The economies of the aforementioned countries did not collapse because the Christmas Eve is a public holiday there, and the Polish economy will not collapse either. The cost of introducing the Christmas Eve as a public holiday will be negligible. Many families will become stronger and simply happier,' said Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy, in the Sejm. The first reading of the bill establishing Christmas Eve as a public holiday was held on Friday.

The registered unemployment rate in October this year remained at 5% – according to estimates by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy. The number of unemployed persons amounted to 767,100 and was the lowest recorded in October since the beginning of the measurement, that is, since 1990.

The Council of Ministers has adopted a bill prepared in our ministry introducing a new entitlement - additional maternity leave for parents of premature babies and parents of babies born on time but requiring prolonged hospitalisation after birth. Parents of premature babies have been waiting for this bill for several years. It is an extremely important step towards improving the situation of families facing concerns about the life and health of their newborn babies. The length of the complementary maternity leave will be up to 8 or 15 weeks, respectively.