Independence for 1/5 of the cost of living. Will the new government reform save children from care?
The system does not guarantee a safe start for foster care pupils, say the authors of the report “The Cost of Lost Potential”. It shows, among other things, that the minimum amount of benefit for continuing education is clearly lower than the actual costs of independent living.
The regulations currently in force date back to 2011. The Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy has prepared a project reforming the foster care system; the government is expected to adopt it in the second quarter of this year.
The Good Initiatives Foundation presented a report commissioned by the Center for Economic and Social Analysis. The publication is devoted to the economic aspects of foster care in Poland.
The authors of the report reported that for over 77 thousand children in foster care, over three quarters are covered by family foster care, and 40 percent all children are placed in related foster families. They emphasized that every year from 6 to 7 thousand people leave foster care to start an independent life.
They noted that The average age at which young adults become independent in Poland is much higher than the age at which foster care children must start living independently. According to Eurostat data, the average age of starting one's own household in Poland is 26.7 years.
They emphasized that A child leaving foster care may receive three types of financial benefits: benefit for continuing education, assistance for becoming independent and assistance for installation. In addition, former pupils can count on help in obtaining appropriate housing and employment conditions, as well as legal and psychological assistance. As of December 2025, the benefit for continuing education is at least PLN 769 per month.
“At the same time, the minimum amount of the benefit for continuing education is clearly lower than the actual costs of independent maintenance, especially since attending school often makes it impossible to work a significant number of hours. The value of this benefit would be able to cover only about 1/5 of the average expenses incurred in 2024 by people living on their own wages and accounted for 22% of the net minimum wage in force in 2025 and 18% of the median net wages of people aged 24 and over. younger,” the report said.
The authors of the study also estimated the value of the total lost added value resulting from working below one's potential productivity – assuming that the added value generated by the employee corresponds to the total costs of his work. In the case of a person who did not complete secondary or basic vocational education, the loss to the economy was estimated at PLN 690,000. PLN, including PLN 52 thousand PLN paid in taxes. The highest value of lost benefits related to interruption of education was estimated at the stage of bachelor's studies (over PLN 1.8 million, including PLN 216,000 in taxes).
During the expert debate, the director of the Wrocław Care and Education Center, Sylwester Pajęcki, pointed out that The first difficulties in the process of becoming independent appear when children begin this process.
– These are often children who have very difficult histories, very different experiences, and generally poor trust in adults – he emphasized.
He noted that many children treat being placed in foster care as oppression. – This means they are entering a system in which they do not want to be, they have to deal with rules that are not theirs – he added. He emphasized that this is often the first barrier that needs to be overcome.
– This is a huge barrier and a great difficulty, but also a big challenge for us to show them that this moment, although difficult, is also a kind of opportunity for them, an opening to various possibilities – he pointed out.
The Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy has prepared a project reforming the foster care system, which includes, among others: increasing remuneration for foster families, accelerating deinstitutionalization, as well as new rules regarding placing children in care and making foster children independent. The regulations currently in force date back to 2011. As the authors of the project noted in its justification, the system of family support, foster care and adoption is in crisis resulting from many years of neglect, and therefore requires fundamental and urgent reform.
The development of the reform was preceded by pre-consultations, including: with people creating the foster care system, social organizations, scientists, local government officials, representatives of institutional care and family assistants. The adoption of the project reforming the foster care system by the Council of Ministers – in accordance with the government's list of legislative works – is scheduled for the second quarter of this year.
Pilot programs for empowering youth from foster care will be implemented in Gdynia, Gdańsk, Słupsk, Toruń, Wałbrzych and Warsaw, as well as in the Koszalin, Białogard and Wałbrzych poviats. Eight agreements with local governments and non-governmental organizations were signed at the end of March by the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy. In total, they will receive almost PLN 52 million from the European Funds for Social Development 2021-2027 program. (PAP)
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