KINCS consultation with the leaders of the Polish Government Population Council
Balázs Molnár, Vice President of KINCS, held a meeting with Alina Potrykowska, Secretary General of the Polish Government Population Council, and Professor Adam Kurynowski in Warsaw. During the meeting, they have reviewed the family policy measures of the two countries and the possibilities for cooperation between the two institutions.
At the meeting, the Polish and Hungarian parties agreed that in both countries the importance of having children and the positive showcasing of families is of paramount importance. Secretary General Potrykowska and Professor Kurynowski presented that the Council has organized for the first time a series of conferences in 16 regional venues, at the end of which series recommendations were made at both local and national level to promote family friendly approaches. Students were also involved in the processing of the results of the 10-month series of events. It was clear that a comprehensive set of measures was needed. It is also due to this fact that the previous '500+' allowance is now paid not only for the second but also for the first child. The 2.5 million Polish youngsters working abroad are increasingly absent from the labor market, thus a nursing program named Maluch (toddler) has been launched to include mothers in the labour market. In order to facilitate the housing of young families, a housing purchase scheme has been developed, which is characterized by the transformation of the tenement into a property of its own over the years. In Poland, the almost total depopulation of settlements based on the old heavy industry in the eastern part is a major problem.
Balázs Molnár presented the operation of the Maria Kopp Institute, briefly introduced the main family policy measures and presented the Institute's research and analysis results to its partners. The Polish side showed a keen interest towards the KINCS survey on the reception of the Family Protection Action Plan.
Balázs Molnár has attended a conference on the drafting of a convention on the rights of families organized by Ordo Iuris, a Polish law institute.
