In March the government is to propose the so-called ‘nursery bill’, which aims at encouraging Polish women to have more children by creating more nursery places. 

The bill will introduce new forms of taking care of children under three years old, including crèches, group babysitters and day clubrooms.

Currently, the creation of such posts is illegal in Poland.

The government is reacting to the fact that there are not enough nurseries in Poland – only 392 for 27,000 children and there are over a million children under three years old in the country – so many people decide not to enlarge their families.  

According to the new law, nurseries will fall under the Labour Ministry, instead of Health Ministry, which will facilitate and quicken the process of granting permits to open child care institutions. The new system will be flexible and adjusted to the needs of parents. If, for example, in a small town or village there are not enough children, a town council can hire a babysitter instead of opening a nursery. The bill will also encourage employers to open company nurseries in exchange for a tax allowance.  

Governments have been struggling to come up with schemes to get Poles to be more procreative for years. Despite being one of Europe’s most Catholic of nations, the birth rate in Poland has been going down dramatically, reaching 1.3 children per family in 2009, which places Poland on the last but one position among EU countries.

“Polish women decide to have only one child or no children at all because they are afraid of losing their job,” says Professor Irena Kotowska from the Warsaw School of Economics.  

It’s so difficult to find a place for a child in a nursery that some women have to quit their job or spend most of their salary on babysitters. New regulations would help women reconcile work with motherhood. (mg) 

Source: Dziennik Gazeta Prawna