Legal Eye: Baby bonus

Nevertheless, a moment like that gets you thinking about what lies ahead. Will any pension benefits be left in public funds for the post-baby boom generation? Will demographic growth be sufficient to allow me to live my golden years (albeit still wa-a-a-a-y off) in comfort?

Vote-winner

Despite what we may think about the collective intelligence of politicians, many are savvy enough to know a potentially hot issue when they see one. And promoting policies to increase birth rates is not only a potential vote-winner among young families, but provides assurances to those who will soon be looking at retirement.

And so it was that just over a year ago, Poland joined the ranks of those few countries paying baby bonuses. The legal end of it is simple - so simple, in fact, that the act introducing the baby bonus is only one page long.

Flat payment

The procedures are easy. For every live birth, a mother or father or legal guardian qualifies to receive a one-off welfare benefit of zł.1,000. Despite the use of the word "welfare," there is no income threshold on the baby bonus. This is the linguistic consequence of including the baby bonus in the law on family aid. To claim the bonus, a mother/father/legal guardian (your choice) must register with the local government (gmina) office where he or she is domiciled within three months of the birth. The application form is straightforward - you provide basic identity information about yourself and baby and request your bonus.

The baby bonus is funded from all of us Polish taxpayers out of the national budget.

Additional benefits

The national budget also funds an additional supplementary payment for low-income families upon a child's birth. Prior to January 1, 2006, this supplementary payment amounted to zł.500. On December 29, 2005 (the same day as the baby bonus law was adopted), the supplementary payment was increased to zł.1,000. A family qualifies for the supplement if its per-capita monthly income does not exceed zł.504. The application for the supplementary payment is more complicated because the mother/father/legal guardian must prove that the family does not cross the income threshold.

However, the potential assistance does not end at the national baby bonus and supplementary low-income birth payment. The baby bonus law also allows local governments (gmina) to allot additional baby bonuses out of gmina funds.

Examples to follow

Poland is not the only country to adopt financial incentives aimed at encouraging its citizens to procreate. For example, Germany's increased support for babies as of January 1, 2007, has garnered much attention, particularly as the amount is significant - up to E25,000 (zł.97,400).

Australia has offered a baby bonus for a while and has seen birthrates increase. Sweden offers a whole package of benefits (not surprisingly) and enjoys an average number of children per family that is high for Europe.

The question remains whether the Polish baby incentives will be enough to convince families to have more babies. In the long run, I have my doubts. I believe that the government should consider all issues relevant to women, families and the workplace instead of just grabbing at easy solutions that make for nice campaign rhetoric.

Judith Gliniecki is a partner with Rymar and Partners; j.gliniecki@rymar.pl