Polish Sejm advances artist social security bill despite 74% public opposition

The vote

On Friday, the Sejm voted not to accept a joint motion by PiS and Konfederacja to reject the government's draft law on social security for artists at the first reading. 199 MPs voted in favour of rejection, 233 voted against, and one abstained. The bill will now be examined by the Committee on Culture, National Heritage and Media. An additional motion to refer it also to the Deregulation Committee failed, with only 38 in favour, 220 against and 176 abstentions.

What the bill proposes

Drafted by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the bill targets artists whose average monthly income over the past three years has not exceeded 125% of the minimum wage, roughly 68,000 PLN gross annually. Rather than direct cash payments, the state would top up their social and health insurance contributions to the level corresponding to the minimum wage, effectively keeping them inside the ZUS system. Support would reach artists working on irregular, project‑based or seasonal contracts, who often lack coverage. The ministry estimates around 20,000 people could benefit.

Through successive decades the topic returned in public debate. It was announced by artistic communities, taken up by successive governments and culture ministry leaderships. Today, for the first time, it enters a real legislative process.

Artistic work is work. It creates social, cultural and economic value. At the same time it often does not fit the traditional employment model based on a permanent contract, steady salary and regular contribution payments.

Public sentiment

A poll by Instytut Pollster for "Super Express" shows that 74% of Poles believe the state should not subsidise artists’ pensions and contributions, while only 11% support the idea and 15% have no opinion. During the debate, PiS MP Norbert Kaczmarczyk claimed that up to 80% of citizens oppose the law. These numbers have fuelled a sharp political backlash.

Opposition firestorm

PiS and Konfederacja launched parallel campaigns to oust Culture Minister Marta Cienkowska. Konfederacja began collecting signatures for a vote of no confidence, while PiS MP Przemysław Czarnek declared his party would file its own motion, calling Cienkowska "compromised" and demanding her resignation. Konfederacja MEP Ewa Zajączkowska‑Hernik wrote on X: "Shame and embarrassment. The motion was rejected because Tusk’s coalition defends artists’ privileges and paying 400 million annually into their pensions as if it were independence. … What a vile caste! And all the rest of ordinary, hard‑working people have to slave away for it." She also pointed to the 74% poll and accused the minister of comparing the bill’s significance to the issue of exhumations of Polish victims of genocide in Volhynia.

If someone’s work finds no audience and does not allow self‑sufficiency, we are not dealing with the profession of an artist but a private hobby, which should not be subsidised by the state. Creating works that no one wants to watch or buy gives no one a moral or legal mandate to reach into taxpayers’ pockets.

Government’s defence

Defending the bill, KO’s Urszula Augustyn framed it as an obligation to people who "share with us their talents, intelligence, creativity, passions" and stressed that the money goes only to the insurance fund, not to celebrities. Lewica’s Dorota Olko urged a serious debate, saying the current one "abounds in falsehoods and manipulations." Marta Cienkowska insisted the bill is not about financing careers but about ensuring continuity of insurance for those whose work does not fit standard employment forms.