– This project is ready and will be implemented soon, because the issue is financial, but not only. First of all, it is about a certain mechanism of how this benefit is to function – said Marzena Okła-Drewnowicz, Minister of Senior Policy in Poland, on TVN24 when asked about the increase in the funeral allowance.
As part of the so-called one hundred specifics, i.e. promises of the Civic Coalition, was an increase in the funeral allowance to 150%. minimum wage. It was specific 19:
“We will raise the funeral allowance to 150 percent of the minimum wage – from July 2024 it will be PLN 6,450. Currently it is PLN 4,000.” However, it is November and the funeral allowance is still PLN 4,000. zloty. The same since 2011. When asked when we can expect this promise to be fulfilled, Marzena Okła-Drewnowicz, Minister of Senior Policy in Poland, replied that the work is still ongoing, but is close to completion.
– Last week there was another meeting of the standing committee of the Council of Ministers, which dealt with this. For a moment, he returned to such internal arrangements, because it is about clarifying whether, for example, the Act on Social Assistance should include a specific amount to be paid by local governments in connection with a funeral – said Okła-Drewnowicz.
To the comment that in the project the government is currently working on, the ministry indicates the date of January 2026 as the entry into force of the changes, the minister replied that what the final shape of the project will be, we will find out how it will “come out of this government, to put it colloquially.”
– Yes, the Civic Coalition made a promise, but we have certain realities inherited from our predecessors and we are implementing many different laws that we promised one by one. And this bill, which we also promised, is being processed and we are talking about a significantly increased amount of the funeral allowance, and this project is very advanced and will soon be issued by the government, she said. – He's really at the finish line when it comes to government work. This is not only a question of the amount itself, it is a question of the mechanism for increasing this amount in the future. The question is whether there should be additional or differently allocated funds, for example for matters related to the funeral, such as bringing back the body. Because that's what the Social Assistance Act says – she added.
Main photo source: TVN24