The 500 plus program introduced in 2016, which due to raising the amount of children's benefit is now 800 plus, was to support demographics. Initially, the originators pointed out that more children would be born thanks to the state's financial assistance. Time brutally verified these announcements.
Poland in 2024 fell to last place in Europe when it comes to fertility rate. On average, there is a 1.11 child for one Polish woman. This is not only the lowest result on the continent, but also the third worst among all OECD countries. It is much worse than the darkest scenarios of experts from just a few years ago.
If nothing changes, our children and grandchildren will live not in nearly 40, but in less than 20 million Poland. At least, that's what government forecasts say. However, it is even worse. In a much further perspective, the population of our country may fall to about 2 million people. This is more or less as much as he lives in Warsaw today. We wrote more about it here.
One way to increase the number of children emerging is to use the in vitro method. This is one of the most effective techniques of assisted reproduction, used to treat infertility, which affects a large part of the population. The previous PiS government has set on 500 plus, and it fought in vitro. The change took place after the parliamentary elections, after which the new authorities launched large financing of the program.
Effect? “32,000 couples qualified for the in vitro program in 11 months of the program 12755 pregnancies were obtained” – writes Rafał Mundry on the platform X.
The expert draws attention to the abyss in expenses for in vitro and 800 plus. “Spent: PLN 800 million. At that time, PLN 60 billion was spent on 800 plus” – he calculates.
“Currently, 19,000 are born on average. children per month. It's like gaining a thirteenth month of birth a year!” – he emphasizes.
The government reimbursement program in Poland was re -launted on June 1, 2024 and will be implemented until December 31, 2028. This program aims to ensure equal access to infertility treatment by in vitro fertilization (in vitro) for couples throughout the country. A total of PLN 2.5 billion, i.e. PLN 500 million a year, was allocated to its implementation.
