Beneficiaries of international protection have access to social welfare on equal terms as nationals. There is no difference in treatment between refugees and subsidiary protection beneficiaries.
Forms of social assistance
Social assistance can be provided inter alia for the following reasons: orphaned children; poverty; homelessness; unemployment; disability; long-term or severe disease, violence in the family; the need to protect the child and family; addiction (alcoholism and drug addiction); difficulties in the integration of foreigners who were granted refugee status, subsidiary protection, sudden and unpredictable situations (natural/ecological disaster, crisis, random event), difficulties in integration due to leaving the care and educational institution or prison.
Social assistance is granted to beneficiaries of international protection whose income does not exceed PLN 776 (161 €) (for a single person), or PLN 600 (121 €) (for a person in the family).[1] The application for social assistance has to be filed before the Social Welfare Centre (Ośrodek Pomocy Społecznej, OPS) which is located in the district where beneficiaries of international protection reside.[2]
Beneficiaries of international protection are also entitled to family benefits and supplements (świadczenia rodzinne i dodatki) under two conditions also applicable to Polish nationals: (a) residence in Poland; and (b) the average monthly family income per person in a family, which cannot exceed 674 PLN (149 €) or 764 PLN (169,5 €) [3] if the child in the family is certified as disabled. They have a right to apply for:
- Family allowance
- Childbirth aid and supplement
- Attendance allowance
- Parental benefit
- Supplement for the beginning of the school year, education away from home, education and rehabilitation of a disabled child, raising a child in a numerous family, raising a child alone, and caring for a child during parental leave.
Furthermore, beneficiaries of international protection have a right to apply for special financial support under the government “500+ Programme”, which is paid on a monthly basis. This benefit is for families with children and should be spent on the need of the child regardless of income. For families with a disabled child, the net income criterion is 1,200 PLN (266€). The benefits are granted by the Municipal Office of Social Welfare, acting on behalf of the President of the city.
On the other hand, single mothers who are recognised beneficiaries of international protection, still face obstacles in receiving the above-mentioned benefits. According to the law, they have to provide a court with a writ of execution (tytuł wykonawczy) confirming maintenance benefit from the other parent. As a result of these regulations, they are deprived of those benefits because they are not able to present that required document due to their exceptional personal and family situation.[4]
Individual Integration Programme (IPI)
Beneficiaries of international protection are also entitled to the Individual Integration Programme (IPI) provided by the Poviat Family Support Centres (Powiatowe Centra Pomocy Rodzinie, PCPR). They have to submit an application for IPI with additional documentation to the head of the Poviat (starosta) through the PCPR within 60 days from the date beneficiaries of international protection received a decision on refugee status or subsidiary protection. The application covers also the spouse and the minor children of the applicant if they were covered by the applicant’s asylum application. On the other hand, children born in Poland after the completion of the parents’ integration program are not granted such assistance.[5] Likewise, the spouse of a Polish citizen has been excluded by law from the right to apply for the IPI.
The Programme takes 12 months during which integration assistance is provided. This assistance includes:
- Cash benefits for the maintenance and coverage of expenses related to learning the Polish language;
- Payment of the health insurance premium specified in the provisions on general insurance in the National Health Fund;
- Special social counselling.
The social worker carries out the so-called environmental interview with a beneficiary of international protection and their family, and then together with they draw up an IPI. The programme determines the amount, scope and forms of integration assistance, as well as mutual obligations of the beneficiary and PCPR. The minimum cash benefit amount is PLN 647 (149 €), per person per month. Financial assistance is paid from the month beneficiaries of international protection applied for IPI or from the moment they left the open centre for foreigners.
Since 1 October 2018 (unchanged as of April 2023) beneficiaries of international protection are entitled to receive:
1) during the first 6 months of the integration program:
- up to PLN 1376,00 (291 €) per month – for a single person;
- up to PLN 963.20 (204 €) per person per month – in a 2-person family;
- up to PLN 825.60 (175 €) per person per month – in a 3-person family;
- up to PLN 688 (145 €) per month per person – for a family of four and more.
2) in the period from 7 to 12 months of the integration program:
- up to PLN 1238.40 (262 €) per month – for a single person;
- up to PLN 866,88 (183 €) per person per month – in a 2-person family;
- up to PLN 743,04 (157 €) per person per month – in a 3-person family;
- up to PLN 619 (131€) per month per person – for a family of four and more.[6]
PCPR assists the beneficiary to obtain housing in a place of residence of his or her choice, where he or she is obliged to reside during the 12-month period of the IPI. A change of residence is allowed in particularly justified cases. In case the beneficiary changes residence in the region without informing PCPR, the programme will be terminated.
In practice, beneficiaries face several obstacles in obtaining social assistance, ranging from a lack of awareness of their rights and language barriers to the discretion of authorities in the limits of financial assistance granted to the requirement of translated forms and official documents which cannot be obtained from their country of origin e.g. alimony judgment to receive the “500+” child benefit. The need for the entire family to reside in Poland may also pose difficulties.[7] According to the NIEM report,[8] the regulations guiding the IIP have been out of date for more than a decade now, and they no longer respond to the needs of its beneficiaries.
As studies find, social policy provides few to no resources needed to maintain oneself independently in Poland.[9] By delivering mostly financial assistance, integration programmes help families to survive on a daily basis but fail to build the resources needed to become independent, to achieve appropriate adaptation levels in a new environment and prepare themselves to cover free market rental costs. For some participants, the programmes strengthened their feelings of lacking control over their lives and the helplessness already developed during the asylum procedure. There is a lack of adequate social work with beneficiaries. The financial means are not sufficient for renting a flat on the commercial market and only a few of them can count on receiving social or communal housing.[10] According to SIP and NIEM reports,[11] IPI should last longer than 12 months, and be practically adapted to individual needs of applicants. Additionally, integration assistance should also be granted to children born after the completion of parents’ integration programs.[12]
The case workers interviewed in the study explained that, because they have too many integration programmes to manage monthly, it was practically impossible for them to offer any social work counselling, and they instead focused on managing monetary transfers.[13] Most of the IPIs are implemented by WCPR (Warszawskie Centrum Pomocy Rodziny), which department of Social Integration and Crisis Intervention has four social workers who provide integration assistance to beneficiaries of international protection.[14]
In the first half of 2022, 3,358,688 PLN was spent on different kinds of social welfare for recognised refugees (compared to 1, 216,579 PLN in 2021,) and 4 424 694 PLN was spent for beneficiaries of subsidiary protection (compared to 2,874,817 PLN in 2021).[15] Assistance was provided in the form of social assistance, psychological and legal support, assistance in local institutions, financial support, and cash benefits for learning the Polish language as part of the implementation of the individual programme of integration.
Social Welfare Centres assisted 227 families (453 persons) in 2022 of recognised refugees and 465 families (731 persons) under subsidiary protection.[16] In Warsaw, it takes around one year in practice for recognized refugees and individuals with subsidiary protection to start receiving financial assistance under this program.[17]
[1] Since 1 January 2022.
[2] Ministry of Family, Work and Social Policy, Information available (PL) at https://bit.ly/41m2U4M.
[3] Ministry of Family, Work and Social Policy, Information, available (in Polish) at: https://bit.ly/38IyKOm.
[4] Legal Intervention Association, “SIP w działaniu. Prawa Cudzoziemców w Polsce 2019”, 2020, available (in Polish) at: https://bit.ly/3sIooIp.
[5] SIP, We present our comments to the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance, June 2022, available (EN) at: https://bit.ly/3LNUIoo.
[6] Ministry of Family, Work and Social policy, ROZPORZĄDZENIE MINISTRA PRACY I POLITYKI SPOŁECZNEJ z dnia 7 kwietnia 2015 r. w sprawie udzielania pomocy cudzoziemcom, available (in Polish) at: https://bit.ly/38PPAuB.
[7] Commissioner for Human Rights, ‘Prawo do świadczeń rodzinnych cudzoziemki objętej ochroną uzupełniającą w sytuacji, gdy nie wszyscy członkowie rodziny zamieszkują w Polsce, PCPR’, 10 January 2018, available (in Polish) at: http://bit.ly/2C8IYey.
[8] NIEM diagnosis of the situation of beneficiaries of international protection in Poland, 2019, available (EN) at: https://bit.ly/3HYgWTs.
[9] Lukasiewicz, K., ‘Exile to Poverty: Policies and Poverty Among Refugees in Poland’, International Migration Vol. 55 (6) 2017, 65, see also Prawa dziecka-Raport Alternatywny, August 2020, available (in Polish) at: https://bit.ly/30eskUX.
[10] Ibidem.
[11] List of recommendations to improve housing situation of Beneficiaries of International Protection in Poland – prepared by Refugee Council operating within the NIEM/V4NIEM, https://bit.ly/3huJ56L.
[12] SIP, Komentujemy propozycje zmian w ustawie o pomocy społecznej, available (in Polish) at: http://bit.ly/3uVH2yi.
[13] Lukasiewicz, K., ‘Exile to Poverty: Policies and Poverty Among Refugees in Poland’, International Migration Vol. 55 (6) 2017, 65.
[14] K. Sobczak-Szelc, M. Pachocka, K. Pędziwiatr, J. Szałańska, ‘Integration Policies, Practices and Responses. Poland – Country Report’, Multilevel Governance of Mass Migration in Europe and Beyond Project (#770564, Horizon2020), available at: http://bit.ly/3bfjTxL.
[15] Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, Report from the first half of 2022, Report 2021, available (in Polish) at: https://bit.ly/3MbQ8S1.
[16] Information provided by the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, 16 January 2023.
[17] Information provided by HFHR, April 2023.