"Good Start" for students

PLN 300 – this is the amount of the "Good Start" benefit for every child in education. The government has established a programme under which families, regardless of their income, will receive PLN 300 once a year for every child attending school. The benefit will go to families this year for the first time. A total of 4.6 million students will be eligible.

Who can receive the support?

The "Good Start" benefit is granted once a year to children starting their school year until they reach the age of 20 Studying disabled children will receive it until they reach the age of 24 What is important, families will be able to count on support regardless of their income.

How to receive the "Good Start" benefit?

In order to receive the benefit, an application must be submitted. It can be done by the child's mother or father, legal or actual guardian of the child, or in the case of children in foster care – by a foster parent, a person running a family orphanage, or a director of a care and education institution.

Where to submit the application?

Applications for the benefit will be accepted and handled by the same institutions that are currently handling the child-support benefit under the "Family 500+" programme. This includes the commune/municipal office, social welfare centre or other organisational unit (e.g. benefit centre) competent for the place of residence of the parent applying for a school starter kit (in the case of districts, the benefits will be provided by district family assistance centres). It is worth noting that communes will use the organisational and ICT solutions they have already been using for the implementation of the 500+ child-support benefit.

When to apply?

The application – similarly to the applications for the child-support benefit under the "Family 500+" programme – can be submitted online as of 1 July through the website of the Ministry of Family empatia.mrpips.gov.pl and through the electronic banking websites, via traditional (paper) channels as of 1 August.

Important! The application must be submitted by 30 November.

When will families receive support?

In the case of applications submitted in July and August, families will receive the school starter kit no later than on 30 September. In the case of applications submitted in subsequent months, communes will have a maximum of 2 months from the date of submission to consider the application and pay the benefit.

Important! Submitting an application for the "Good Start" benefit in July and August guarantees payment no later than on 30 September.

School starter kit in numbers

The school starter kit will reach 4,600,000 children, raised in approximately 3,400,000 families. The cost of the benefit is estimated at about PLN 1.4 billion per year.

Simplified procedure

In order to streamline and accelerate the process of granting the school starter benefit, the necessity to issue and deliver an administrative decision has been abandoned – it will be issued only in the case of refusal to grant the benefit, as well as in the case of unduly received benefits.

The "Good Start" benefit is exempt from tax. It shall not be enforceable or included in income for the purpose of determining entitlement to benefits from other support schemes.

The benefit is not granted to children attending a kindergarten or to children carrying out one-year kindergarten preparations in the so-called reception class in a kindergarten or school.