The issue of child support non-payment in Poland remains unresolved. Despite numerous campaigns highlighting the plight of children deprived of the financial support they’re entitled to, in the span of just one year, child support debt recorded in the Register of Debtors BIG InfoMonitor has increased by nearly PLN 1.3 billion. By the end of September 2024, it reached a staggering amount exceeding PLN 16 billion! The unequal conditions and developmental opportunities for children are a byproduct of this grim phenomenon. The absence of child support for 79% of children implies, among other things, worse educational conditions.
Data collected in the Register of Debtors BIG InfoMonitor show that nearly 292,000 parents have child support arrears against their children. This number reflects hundreds of thousands of children whose living conditions are lower because they do not receive the money they are due. For various reasons, such as this, over a third of parents looking after children who do not receive maintenance obligations, mentioned in a study prepared by BIG InfoMonitor in partnership with the Association for Our Children, that they live modestly and manage their money very sparingly on a daily basis to last the entire month.
The average debt of an individual non-paying parent amounts to more than PLN 55,000. The highest amounts are recorded in the Mazowieckie region at PLN 62,770, followed by Małopolskie at PLN 58,846 and Pomorze at PLN 58,811. The least amount of arrears are seen in parents from Lubuskie province with an average of PLN 47,364, Śląskie with PLN 48,322 and Zachodniopomorskie with PLN 50,492.
“Child maintenance arrears are a serious social problem requiring systemic changes in law. The lack of regular funds from this destabilizes the lives of many families, increasing economic inequalities. More effective mechanisms for enforcing maintenance obligations and support tools for affected caregivers and their charges are needed. There is also a need for education to increase social awareness about the consequences of non-payment of child support,” comments Sławomir Grzelczak, President of BIG InfoMonitor.
The lack of child support greatly impacts the daily functioning of children. As many as 30% of parents obligated to pay child support from the beginning do not fulfill this obligation. Nearly a quarter stop paying after a few months. The vast majority simply stop sending the allocated funds at some point.
The study also reveals that a lack of child support for 79% of children implies worse educational conditions compared to peers who do not encounter such problems. Families deprived of benefits cannot afford to send their children to additional activities. They cannot afford any tutoring or private forms of education.
This summer the government announced plans to increase the maximum amount of payments from the Child Maintenance Fund from the current PLN 500 to PLN 1000. Even though changes are being welcomed, only 26% of respondents in the survey conducted by BIG InfoMonitor believe that this will significantly improve their financial situation. The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy has announced that the changes will be implemented no later than 2025.
Source: https://managerplus.pl/dlugi-alimentacyjne-w-polsce-przekroczyly-16-mld-zl-20819
