Family policy in Hungary refers to the government measures that have been passed to increase

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

's birth rate and to stop the decline of the country's population. Hungary has a family policy that seeks to subsidize childcare for new parents.

History

Hungary's population has been declining since 1980 when the country's population peaked at 10.7 million. It is the country in Europe whose population has been shrinking for the longest time. The main cause is that women on average do not have at least 2.1 or more children, which is needed to keep the population stable (see TFR). No government has reversed this trend since 1980, but there were several visible alterations during the last decades. It fell from 2.17 in 1977 to 1.23 in 2011. The

Bokros package The Bokros package ( hu, Bokros-csomag; named after the then-Minister of Finance Lajos Bokros) was a series of austerity measures announced by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Gyula Horn in Hungary on 12 March 1995. Background Having lost the free ...

, the

financial crisis of 2007–2008 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...

, and the

European debt crisis The European debt crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis or the European sovereign debt crisis, is a multi-year debt crisis that took place in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until the mid to late 2010s. Several eurozone membe ...

all accelerated the downward trend.

Current situation

The Second Orbán Government made saving the nation from the demographic abyss a key aspect and therefore has introduced generous breaks for large families and greatly increased social benefits for all families. Those with three or more children pay virtually no taxes. In just a couple years, Hungary went from being one of the countries spending the least on families in the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate e ...

to being one of those spending the most. In 2015, it was almost 4% of GDP.

Annual number of live births

Fertility rate

Support in salaries

The Orbán Government kept the earlier existed ''family allowance'' ( hu, családi pótlék) and beside that introduced the ''family tax benefit'' ( hu, családi adókedvezmény).

Marriage support

The government introduced the ''discount for first married couples'' ( hu, első házasok kedvezménye): newly-married couples receive together 5,000 HUF per month for 24 months after marriage.

Housing support

Since 2015, the CSOK (''családi otthonteremtési kedvezmény'', ) can be required by married couples for used or newly-built houses and apartments if they promise to have one, two, three or four children. The size of support depends on the number of children that the couple plans to have. At least one of the parents must be under 40 years old. They also have to meet the following requirements: unpunished life and 180 days social security payment before the request (in case of one or two children) or 2 years social security payment (in case of 3 or more children). The children - who could be of blood or adoptee - have to live with the parents to fulfill the criteria. They can get CSOK as a fixed sum of money or as preferential mortgage rates on housing. The sum can be calculated as follows: : Families can also refund most of their taxes up to 5 million HUF that they pay for house and building material purchases. Finally, they need to pay only 5% in VAT.

Maternity benefit

The amount of the maternity benefit is equal to the 225% of the minimal pension at the time of birth of the child (64,125 HUF in 2017); in case of twins, it is 300% (85,500 HUF in 2017). It is a one-off support.

Child care allowance

The child care allowance is paid monthly if the child has reached the age of 2. The amount is equal to 70% of either the mother's or father's salary up 140% of the current minimum wage, which was 138,000 HUF in 2018.

Free or reduced cost services for children

Several measures were introduced since 2010 that made services free or cheaper for families with children. Vaccinations against the following diseases are free and obligatory in Hungary:

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...

tetanus Tetanus, also known as lockjaw, is a bacterial infection caused by ''Clostridium tetani'', and is characterized by muscle spasms. In the most common type, the spasms begin in the jaw and then progress to the rest of the body. Each spasm usually ...

pertussis Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two or t ...

, poliomyelitis,

haemophilus influenzae ''Haemophilus influenzae'' (formerly called Pfeiffer's bacillus or ''Bacillus influenzae'') is a Gram-negative, non-motile, coccobacillary, facultatively anaerobic, capnophilic pathogenic bacterium of the family Pasteurellaceae. The bacter ...

, measles, mumps, rubella,

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes ( jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal ...

streptococcus pneumoniae ''Streptococcus pneumoniae'', or pneumococcus, is a Gram-positive, spherical bacteria, alpha-hemolytic (under aerobic conditions) or beta-hemolytic (under anaerobic conditions), aerotolerant anaerobic member of the genus Streptococcus. They ar ...

. The government made vaccinations for other diseases free,

chicken pox Chickenpox, also known as varicella, is a highly contagious disease caused by the initial infection with varicella zoster virus (VZV). The disease results in a characteristic skin rash that forms small, itchy blisters, which eventually scab ...

, both types of meningitis and

rotavirus ''Rotavirus'' is a genus of double-stranded RNA viruses in the family ''Reoviridae''. Rotaviruses are the most common cause of diarrhoeal disease among infants and young children. Nearly every child in the world is infected with a rotavirus ...

, in 2018. Children in the first nine years get free textbooks in school since 2017. Those in higher years but living in disadvantaged conditions, suffering from long-term illness, receiving child protection benefit, or living in a large family with three or more children are also entitled to free textbooks. However, the government plans to provide free textbooks for every pupils and students until the final exam. Children who live in disadvantaged conditions, suffer from long-term illness, get child protection benefit, or live in a large family with three or more children get also free or half-priced meals in nurseries, kindergartens and schools. Meanwhile, others get them on reduced prices. Those younger than 20 who will get a European driving license in Category B (

motor vehicles A motor vehicle, also known as motorized vehicle or automotive vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on rails (such as trains or trams) and is used for the transportation of people or cargo. The veh ...

) may both take a course on the ''KRESZ'' (similar to the British

Highway Code ''The Highway Code'' is a set of information, advice, guides and mandatory rules for road users in the United Kingdom. Its objective is to promote road safety. The ''Highway Code'' applies to all road users including pedestrians, horse riders ...

) for free and try the test for the first time at no charge. For those getting a successful language exam at the B2 or the C1 level, the price of the exam is refunded by the state if the examinee is under 35 years old. Children may use public transport free if they are accompanied by an adult and do not attend school yet. Pupils, students and undergraduates may use public transport at half price by showing their student card.

Support for parents

Parents of one child have 2 days extra paid vacation. Parents of two children get 4 days. Parents of three or more children receive seven extra paid vacation days, compared to the average Hungarian.

Support for grandmothers

The ''Women 40'' ( hu, Nők 40) program makes it possible for women who have worked 40 years to retire to get more time to spend with grandchildren or with their own parents.

Support of Hungarians outside of Hungary

Maternity benefit (outside of Hungary)

Maternity benefit is a one-off support to Hungarian mothers living abroad and amounts to 64,125 HUF per child. In the case of twins, the amount is 85,500 HUF together.

Baby bond (outside of Hungary)

Every Hungarian parent living outside of Hungary may have a 42,500 HUF account per child. The money stays in the bank and bears interest until the child reach the age of 18, When the person may get the final amount.csalad.hu - Köldökzsinór Program – a külhoni magyar családok támogatása
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