The number of Polish parents paying child maintenance has doubled after tougher rules targeting evaders were brought in, Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro has said.

Changes to the law have prompted a response from late-payers that is "immediate, spectacular and visible to the naked eye," Ziobro said at a joint press conference with Family, Labour and Social Policy Minister Elżbieta Rafalska on Monday.

"This is proof that the situation of women in Poland can be improved if there is a will to do so," Ziobro added.

Legal changes came into effect in Poland in May aiming to make it more difficult to avoid child maintenance payments.

People who have three months of arrears in such payments now face up to a year in prison.

Ziobro said that further legislative steps were planned that would “make Polish children even more protected."

(pk)

Source: PAP