Poland has taken first place in Oxfam’s ranking in the category of social spending surpassing Finland, France and Ireland respectively.

According to the Interia private news website, the child benefit (500+) worth PLN 20 bn (EUR 4.63 bn) per year introduced by the Polish government of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has greatly contributed to Poland’s success in the social spendings category.

Denmark topped the general ranking and earned the title of the country that does the most to reduce inequality in the World. The first runner-up was Germany, Finland was third.

There were three criteria used to categorise all 157 countries that underwent Oxfam’s assessment.

The first element was social spending, in which Poland did best. This category included expenditure on public services such as education, health and social protection. The Oxfam index states that such spending has a strong impact on reducing inequality, particularly for the poorest women and girls who are the most dependent on them.

The second element was based on the existence of progressive taxation, how large a percent of the GDP is constituted by tax-based income and how efficient the state is in its fight against tax evasion.

The third element was the strength of labour rights, especially that of women.

On the overall list of countries most committed to reducing inequalities, Poland came 20th. Poland took the 114th place in the field of taxation policy and came 33rd in terms of the strength of labour rights. Nevertheless, Poland outdid the US, which came 23rd in the general ranking.





Sources:

https://polandinenglish.info/3941312...cial-spendings

https://www.oxfam.de/system/files/rr...-091018-en.pdf

https://polandinenglish.info/3943073...-child-poverty

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?...urtherNews=yes