[LINK] "Why the New Poland Offers Handouts for Kids That Exceed Norway's"

[rfmcdonald]

Bloomberg's Dorota Bartyzel and Wojciech Moskwa look at the politics behind Poland's new baby bonus. I'm not inclined to think that much will be altered, demographically, apart from the timing of births. Deeper institutional and cultural changes are needed to make significant upward shifts in fertility.

Poland’s new rulers have outraged their biggest benefactors, stifled opponents and threatened foreign investors -- all while keeping their supporters happy with promises of unprecedented largesse.

Welcome to the country’s latest post-communist incarnation: The right-wing Law & Justice party is moving at breakneck speed to upend the status quo with the European Union and impose a new social compact that mixes Scandinavian generosity with a touch of Kremlin imperiousness.

The largest test of this political pivot comes in a few weeks with a child-subsidy program that’s more generous than oil-rich Norway’s. The handouts will lift an average family of five’s income by a quarter. The goal is to narrow a yawning wealth gap and reverse what is projected to be one of the steepest population declines in Europe. Critics of the initiative, which will cost almost half as much as national defense and endanger crucial funding from Brussels, call it a populist ploy to distract voters from a nationalistic agenda.

“People come to city hall almost every day to ask about the money that Law & Justice has promised,” Robert Biedron, the independent mayor of Slupsk in northwest Poland, said by phone. “They appear to be willing to sell some of their freedoms for more financial comfort.”