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.’
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