Carers of disabled children protest in Warsaw for right to work while still receiving benefits

Parents and other carers of disabled people protested in front of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw on Saturday, demanding that the government change the law to allow them to work part time without losing the benefits they receive as carers.

They carried placards that read “Let us live”, “Work is a human right”  and “Give not cash but work”. They say that living on already low benefits is even more difficult amid a cost of living crisis fuelled by rapidly rising inflation, which reached almost 18% last month.

Carers of children diagnosed with a disability before the age of 18 are entitled to 2,119 zloty (€450) per month in nursing benefits. If the child is diagnosed with a disability later, the benefit is a maximum of 620 zloty. However, if the parent takes up any work, the entire benefit is lost.

By comparison, the minimum wage in Poland currently stands at 3,010 zloty per month.

One mother of a child with a disability, Jolanta Marchewicz, told broadcaster TVN that it is “impossible to support two people on such a low benefit”. She and others argue that carers should be allowed to take up part-time work while still receiving benefits.

“Parents often have to give up work because their child needs constant care, but this does not mean that these parents do not have two, three or even four hours a day not only to improve their family’s livelihood but also their own wellbeing,” said Marta Gawrylik, another of the protesters.

President Andrzej Duda’s chief of staff, Paweł Szrot, invited the protesters to a meeting “at the request of the president”. Duda “attaches great importance to the problems of people with disabilities and is always open to dialogue with this community”, said Szrot.

Meanwhile, Paweł Wdówik, a deputy family and social policy minister, told TVN that the government is exploring the possibility of introducing a solution that would not take away all benefits from carers if they work, but would reduce the money they receive by one zloty for every two they earn.

“I trust that we will be able to come up with a solution that will be acceptable to the finance minister because it puts a strain on the budget in some way,” said Wdówik.

Main photo credit: Jon Tyson / Unsplash 

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.