Poland will not raise “800 Plus” payments for Ukrainians until at least 2028

The Polish government does not plan to increase the child benefit under the “800 Plus” program until at least 2028.

This was announced by Deputy Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy Sebastian Gajewski in an interview with Wiadomosci.

Refugees from Ukraine are among those who receive payments under the program.

The “800 Plus” program provides a monthly benefit for each child in a family, subject to several conditions: the child must be under 18, enrolled in a Polish school, legally residing in Poland under PESEL UKR status, and at least one parent must be officially employed. As of early 2026, approximately 268,500 Ukrainian children were receiving the payments, though this number is changing dynamically due to new employment verification rules.

Gajewski cited the absence of a corresponding mechanism in legislation as the reason for forgoing indexation. Unlike the pension system, child benefits are not recalculated automatically.

“The law on state assistance in raising children contains no indexation mechanism like the one that exists in the pension law,” he explained.

The current amount of 800 zlotys has been in effect since January 2024. Gajewski acknowledged that purchasing power is declining and that sooner or later the question of raising the benefit will have to be revisited, but certainly not this year or next.

Polish society is actively debating the idea of limiting payments to the wealthiest families, but the ministry opposes this measure. According to Gajewski, a country with low birth rates should support parenthood regardless of family income level. In addition, the absence of an income threshold and additional checks keeps the program’s administration inexpensive: the entire “800 Plus” program across the country is administered by just a few dozen people. Introducing income or residency checks would significantly increase administrative costs.

Shortly before this, The Guardian wrote that Ukrainians had become competitors rather than refugees in the eyes of Poles, and that relations between the two countries had deteriorated recently — despite Poland having become one of Ukraine’s main allies after the start of the full-scale invasion. Official Warsaw, for its part, points to the scale of assistance already provided: since the start of the full-scale war, Poland has extended legal and financial protection to 1.73 million Ukrainians, and nearly 80% of Poles, according to official data, have helped refugees in one way or another.