As we have already describedthe “Active Parent” program is to consist of support for parents who will be able to choose what form of care they will provide for their child from the age of 1 to 3. “Grandmother's” will consist of three benefits, “active parents at work” – i.e. PLN 1,500 for child care, for two working parents, “actively in a nursery” – covering the costs of a nursery up to PLN 1,500, which will go directly to the care institution, and “actively at home” – i.e. PLN 500 for parents staying at home with a child. Importantly, only one of the benefits will be available for one child.
How will the “grandmother's” be distributed? Experts have analyzed the program
The money.pl portal reportedthat according to economists from CenEA, 557 thousand families with 992 thousand children will be eligible to benefit from the program this year. 96 percent of fathers and 59 percent of mothers are to be professionally active in them. In their analysis, experts divided families into 10 groups depending on their income. They also calculated that 322 thousand families will qualify for “active parent at work” and “actively in nursery” and 236 thousand families for “actively at home”.
Interestingly, the highest monthly benefits from the “granny” program may be received by wealthier families on average, because it is in these families that both parents work most often, and they will be able to gain PLN 1,500 in benefits. However, if the benefits of the program are compared to the income achieved, poorer families would benefit the most proportionally. A large part of them is to be responsible for, among other things, farms, which allows them to receive support under the “active parents at work” program.
“This is certainly a change in the philosophy of supporting families with children towards appreciating the employment of both parents. However, since there are no income thresholds in the case of “Active Parent”, the bulk of the funds will go to high-income families where both parents already work today” – commented Michał Myck, director of CenEA, quoted by money.pl.
Will the program have a significant impact on the country's budget?
The costs of the “granny” program are to amount to PLN 7.4 billion gross. According to experts, if we take into account that working parents pay taxes and contributions, and that the program will absorb the current “family care capital” and subsidies for the nursery, its value may reach PLN 5.3 billion. CenEA also showed that the more families take advantage of “active parents at work”, the lower the net budget costs of the program will be. “On the other hand, a larger percentage of families using care in the nursery translates into higher program costs from the point of view of the public finance sector balance,” the experts added.
“The expected changes in the labor market will depend on many factors, such as the extent to which material issues and the amount of remuneration are crucial when it comes to women's professional activity. The main question, however, concerns the availability of childcare places for children under 3 years of age, and this program can significantly help in this regard,” summarized Michał Myck. “Its effect should be an increase in the number of places in nurseries and thus the popularization of formal care for the youngest, and an important role in this matter will be played by both local governments and private companies, for which opening childcare places may become more attractive.”