- Title: Poland's ruling right-wing party banks on child subsidy to win election
- Date: 7th October 2019
- Summary: NOWA KARCZMA, POLAND (SEPTEMBER 11, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BENEFICIARY OF 500+ SOCIAL PROGRAMME KAROLINA BURCZYK PUSHING HER 6-MONTH-OLD BABY LEON IN PRAM BURCZYK WALKING LEON SITTING IN PRAM BURCZYK WALKING TOWARDS HER NEW HOUSE, STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION VARIOUS OF BURCZYK SITTING WITH LEON ON HER LAP LEON CRAWLING TOWARDS CAMERA BURCZYK WALKING UPSTAIRS BURCZYK CHANGING SHEETS LEON CRAWLING AND PLAYING ON FLOOR (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) BENEFICIARY OF 500+ SOCIAL PROGRAMME AND MOTHER OF 6-MONTH-OLD LEON, KAROLINA BURCZYK, SAYING: "People here used to opt for Civic Platform, now the tendency is to choose PiS (Law and Justice) because they have introduced welfare programmes which are helpful. It is, of course, a sort of bait to attract prospective voters, because the majority of locals, including me and my family, are grateful for those benefits and so we, and others, will lean towards voting for PiS." VARIOUS OF BURCZYK HOLDING LEON AND PREPARING MILK (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) BENEFICIARY OF 500+ SOCIAL PROGRAMME AND MOTHER OF 6-MONTH-OLD LEON, KAROLINA BURCZYK, SAYING: "People here are older and they appreciate the fact that the current government and its policies support the family, and I think we, as Kashubians (ethnic minority in northern Poland) are very attracted to the idea that this government speaks for the family." VARIOUS OF BURCZYK FEEDING LEON
- Embargoed: 21st October 2019 09:35
- Keywords: Polish election 500+ programme social benefits Law and Justice Leszek Balcerowicz Polish economy
- Location: NOWA KARCZMA, BYDGOSZCZ AND WARSAW, POLAND
- City: NOWA KARCZMA, BYDGOSZCZ AND WARSAW, POLAND
- Country: Poland
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA001B03LSUF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Pushing her infant son in a pram, 26-year-old Karolina Burczyk from Nowa Karczma in northern Poland is one of the latest beneficiaries of a child subsidy programme sponsored by the country's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.
Born and raised in the northern region of Kashuby, Burczyk says the local community appreciates the government's pro-family stance and the various social benefits they offer.
In return for the sense of financial security that comes with the programme dubbed '500+', Burczyk says she will vote for PiS in general elections on Oct. 13, something she did not do in 2015.
Burczyk, who puts the cash she receives into a savings account for her six month-old son Leon, said that the programme reels in prospective voters as they are grateful for the handout.
Her hometown, which lies less than an hour from liberal stronghold Gdansk, voted for the opposition party Civic Platform in the 2015 general election, but PiS won 54% of votes in the European Parliament election in May.
PiS says 500+, which awards 500 zlotys ($126 approx) a month per child and has cost more than 70 billion zlotys so far, aims to correct economic injustice caused by liberal governments since the collapse of communism in 1989.
The subsidy, which is not means-tested and not indexed to inflation, is seen by PiS as vital to its appeal to working-class voters.
Promises to introduce the subsidy helped PiS return to power in 2015, when it's socially conservative and nationalist agenda tapped into public frustration with Western liberal values.
Critics say the policy exposes Poland's public finances to finances to too much risk and removes the incentive for some women to work.
Katarzyna Ichnowska, the owner of a bakery in Nowa Karczma and a mother of three boys, said while she did not feel strongly for or against 500+ there had been no programme responding to the needs of Polish families before.
But she said the additional 1500 zlotys each month was likely to be cancelled out by rises in social insurance contributions for her employees that she expects to begin paying at the start of 2020.
Leszek Balcerowicz, a former finance minister who coordinated Poland's transition to a market economy after decades of communist rule, told Reuters that with the extra spending on 500+ programme there was less "room for manoeuvre" for other important purposes.
Pollsters say 500+ has contributed to a big lead for the PiS in opinion polls.
A comfortable election victory would give PiS a mandate to further reshape Poland in its conservative image. A close race could force it to rein in some of its ambitions and make it harder to stand up to EU pressure over the rule of law.
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