Youth Policy in Poland

The “State Strategy for Youth for 2003-2012” (Strategia Państwa dla Młodzieży na lata 2003-2012) (Strategy) prepared before Poland’s accession to the EU remains the only document determining the development and directions of Polish youth policy. In 2018-2019, the Associacion for Establishing the Youth Council of the Republic of Poland, together with 600 young people from Poland, developed a document "The Assumptions for the National Youth Strategy for 2020-2030". It identifies six strategic areas: labor market; civic activity; sport, health, tourism; innovation, internet, digitization; culture; education and higher education.

In September 2025 Diagnosis of Children and Youth (Diagnoza Dzieci i Młodzieży) was commissionned by the Minister of National Education. The initiative involves conducting social research, specifically the Diagnosis of Children and Youth, and developing the foundations of a policy document that will propose priority areas, directions for action, and forms of cooperation with public stakeholders for the Children and Youth Strategy.

The Children and Youth Strategy aims to design and implement comprehensive measures that support the development, rights, and overall quality of life of children and young people. It focuses on identifying their needs, creating safe and supportive environments for learning, social and cultural engagement, and promoting healthy lifestyles, education, equality, and active civic participation. The document will outline goals, priorities, and interventions at local, regional, and national levels to ensure conditions that foster development and social inclusion. The Minister has designated the Polish Society for Social Policy (Polskie Towarzystwo Polityki Społecznej) as the Beneficiary responsible for implementing the initiative and allocated a total of 400,000 PLN to finance the project.

It is worth emphasising that despite the absence of a youth act, youth policy is more and more frequently regulated at regional and local levels. Local strategies (or other documents) targeting young people are present at various levels of local governments (province, district, commune), e.g. in Warsaw, Poznań.

Decisions on the implementation of individual public policies (including those relating to youth) remain a responsibility of government administration (e.g. the Minister of National Education is responsible for education and upbringing the Minister of Sport - for physical culture, the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy - for social policy and the Minister of Science and Higher Education - for higher education and research).