Hungarian government committed to supporting families

Fresh research shows that family support is a paramount investment in the future, a government official said on Friday.

Hungarian family policy aims to further bolster families and the future of youth with a view to beating an easier path to prosperity, Agnes Hornung, state secretary for families at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, told a conference organised by the Mária Kopp Institute for Population and Families (KINCS), presenting findings of the Hungarostudy 2021 research project. The National Talent Programme aids 300,000-350,000 young people each year, she said, mentioning free language tests and exemption from social taxes for under-25s, which translates to extra annual income of 780,000 forints for each participant.

People should not have to choose between studying and family or work and family, she said, noting the exemption from social taxes for women under the age of 30 who have children from January this year, as well as student-loan forgiveness for women who rear children after their studies are completed. Plus maternity aid is being extended until 2024, she noted.

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As the world “moves from one crisis to the next”, it is vitally important that Hungary’s family support system is being strengthened further, and solutions are now available for almost every situation in life, Hornung said.

Hungarostudy research was launched 35 years ago by Mária Kopp and her colleagues, Tünde Fűrész, the institute’s head noted, and the study provides the most comprehensive picture of the state of mind of Hungarians, as well as their relationship with family and the community.

The 2021 survey is the joint work of the institute and Semmelweis University’s Institute of Behavioral Sciences, involving interviews with 7,000 people on the basis of which 27 studies were produced. Fűrész said young Hungarians are keen on having more than two children and they consider marriage to be the most ideal form of cohabitation, with the level of relationship satisfaction highest for married people.

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Source: MTI