International family summit – Orbán: Government to increase family tax benefits

Budapest, May 25 (MTI) – Europe is undergoing political and intellectual change; its citizens have revolted and are forcing changes to migration policies, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in his opening address to the International Family Summit on Thursday. The government will further increase family tax benefits, with two-child families being the focal point of the scheme, he said.

Orbán outlined an action plan designed to encourage couples to have children, saying that 2018 would be “the year of families”.

He announced that the government would pay off 1 million forints (EUR 3,200) of families’ mortgages for every third and subsequent child they have.

As part of the scheme, the government will forgive half of the student loan debt of young women with two children and all of the student loan debt of those with three or more children, he said.

Women with higher education degrees who receive child support benefits will be eligible for them for an extra year, up until their child’s second birthday.

He said the government would launch a “never-before-seen” creche development scheme which will see new creches built “in every area with families”, while existing creches will be renovated if necessary.

Hungarians living abroad will also become eligible for maternity allowances next year and Hungarians everywhere in the Carpathian Basin will have the opportunity to acquire “baby bonds”, he said.

Orbán announced that the government would set up a research centre with a view to aiding families, establishing a basis for “family policy philosophy” and understanding demographic conditions in Europe and around the world.

The prime minister said Hungary would target raising its birth rate to 2.1 percent by 2030. “If there are children, there is a future,” Orbán said.