Sunday, 2 November 2025
Poland’s unpaid child support problem has reached alarming proportions, stretching far beyond family disputes and into the realm of social policy. According to the latest figures, maintenance arrears now exceed PLN 16.9 billion, a record high that continues to climb each year. Behind the statistics are hundreds of thousands of children left without proper financial support—and a system increasingly forced to fill the gap.
More than 288,000 parents are currently listed in Poland’s national debtor register for failing to pay court-ordered maintenance. The typical debtor owes around PLN 58,000, though in some regions, such as Mazowieckie, the average exceeds PLN 65,000. Over the past four years, the total unpaid amount has grown by roughly two-thirds, with many of these debts proving difficult to recover.
The problem is not evenly spread across the country. The highest concentration of non-paying parents is found in the north-east, in the Warmińsko-Mazurskie region. By contrast, residents of Małopolskie and Podkarpackie are among the most reliable in meeting their obligations. Experts say that these regional differences often reflect varying levels of employment stability and migration patterns rather than moral attitudes alone.
But the growing debt is not simply a private issue between parents. The financial fallout affects local governments and taxpayers nationwide. When child support is not paid, the state often steps in through the Maintenance Fund, which covers partial payments to families left without support. These payments—nearly two million a year—represent hundreds of millions of złotys in public spending. Although the number of beneficiaries has declined in recent years, this is largely because income thresholds for eligibility have not been updated. At the same time, the government has doubled the maximum benefit from PLN 500 to PLN 1,000 per child, which means total public costs are now rising again despite fewer eligible families.
Municipalities also bear the cost of pursuing unpaid debts, hiring bailiffs, and managing legal enforcement that often yields limited results. According to experts, successful collection occurs in fewer than one in four cases. Many debtors officially declare no income, work informally, or deliberately conceal earnings to avoid payment. In practice, that pushes the burden of support from the private sphere to the public one.
The situation is made worse by the fact that more than half of those who owe maintenance also have other overdue debts—loans, unpaid bills, or fines. Economists describe this as a pattern of chronic financial avoidance rather than isolated hardship. It places extra strain on social services, since children of debtors are statistically more likely to rely on public assistance or scholarships.
Families who do not meet the income threshold for state aid can still take legal steps to pressure delinquent parents. Anyone with a valid court ruling can register a debtor’s name with the national database for a symbolic fee. Once listed, these individuals face serious consequences: they can be denied loans, installment purchases, or even new mobile phone contracts. Although this sometimes prompts partial repayment, the scale of non-payment continues to grow.
Experts warn that the persistence of unpaid maintenance represents not just moral failure but a systemic weakness. A combination of slow enforcement, economic hardship, and deliberate evasion leaves thousands of children short of financial support each year. As one analyst put it, “When parents don’t pay, the cost is carried by everyone—local governments, taxpayers, and above all, the children who are deprived of stability.”
While public awareness of the problem is growing, the data show little sign of improvement. Unless collection efforts become more effective and support thresholds are modernised, Poland’s maintenance debt is likely to keep expanding—turning what should be a matter of family responsibility into a long-term social liability.
Source: BIK
