Wednesday 30 July 2014

This Polish boy lives in Warsaw... So why do WE pay his child benefit? Daily Mail

Sebastian Kossmann with his wife, Evita and their son, Mateusz, ten. Sebastian works in England while Evita and Mateusz live  in Warsaw, Poland


Mateusz Kossmann is a ten-year-old boy with a winning smile. 
Every morning, he’s taken to school by his mother Evita, who is delighted her son is in a small class of 14 other children.

The lessons are well-disciplined, pupils thrive academically and politely shake the hand of their teacher at the end of the day.It is just the kind of education Evita wants for Mateusz — and she has found it in her native Poland after a dispiriting spell living in England.

Once Poland became part of the EU in 2004, Evita — like thousands of other Eastern Europeans exploiting the EU open borders policy — excitedly migrated to Britain with her husband Sebastian, and their young son, to begin a new life.Sebastian, now 35, found an £18,500-a-year job in a Bristol factory and the couple successfully applied to be given £82 a month in child benefits for Mateusz, which is more than four times the £18 rate paid for children in Poland.

The Kossmann family is also entitled to £143 a month in child tax credits - a benefit not paid by the Polish government - to supplement Sebastian’s low income. This is paid annually, in arrears.Like countless other EU migrants, the family qualifies for the child-linked benefits because at least one parent works in Britain.

‘From day one, we felt the British welfare system was very generous,’ says Sebastian. ‘We are receiving far more than parents get in Poland. Getting the child tax credits, too, was a big amount of extra cash for us and we were pleased.’


Comment:

I don’t understand why if a child who  lives in another EU Country his parents get Child Benefit and Tax Credits if one parent works here in the UK,  this situation needs reviewing and repealing.




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