Polish gov't offers higher disability benefits amid protest
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
25.04.2018 12:00
Disability benefits in Poland are set to be increased under a deal offered by the government amid an ongoing protest for higher welfare payouts for people who cannot care for themselves.
Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański
The deal comes as a number of parents who care for their disabled adult children continue to occupy a hallway in the parliament building in Warsaw.
Under an agreement signed on Tuesday by government officials and representatives of a handful of non-profits helping people with disabilities, benefits will be raised by 35 percent to a little over PLN 1,000 (EUR 240) per month as of June if the hike is aproved by parliament.
But some of the protesters called the deal a scandal.
They said they were left out of the deal and that the people signing on behalf of the disabled community were strangers to them.
The protesters have been in the parliament building since April 18, demanding an increase in disability benefits to equal the minimum social welfare payment of about PLN 1,000 per month.
They also want an extra PLN 500 each month for therapy. (vb/pk)
Source: PAP