Government launches national consultation on family policy measures

The government has launched a national consultation to gauge Hungarians’ views on family policy.

Questionnaires will be sent by post in the coming days, and an online version will be made available soon, said Katalin Novák, the state secretary for family and youth affairs.

In the questionnaire, the government notes measures it has taken since coming to power in 2010 to introduce tax preferences and raise subsidies for families with children.

“Now we have the opportunity to support Hungarian families with further measures. Let’s decide on the future together!”, the government says, inviting recipients to fill in the form.

The government says it believes that increased support for families raising children and incentives for having children are necessary to manage the “significant problem” of population decrease in Hungary as well as in all of Europe, contrasting its aims with those of “bureaucrats in Brussels” who want to introduce a permanent mechanism for immigration to deal with the issue.

It asks Hungarians if they agree that “depopulation must be remedied not with immigration, but with stronger support of families”.

It also asks whether “new family support programmes should continue to be conditional on working” and whether families who “commit to having more children should be given more support”.

The questionnaire asks whether Hungarians “agree that the government should support mothers raising children in their endeavour to work” and if they would support recognising that mothers raising four or more children have a “full-time job” at home.

The last question on the questionnaire is whether Hungarians agree that approving changes to legislation on support for families should require a two-thirds majority in parliament.

Hungary’s government has held a number of national consultations over the years seeking feedback from citizens on important policy issues.

Source: MTI