The Guardian’s investigative report on Hungary’s incentive for families – VIDEO

Since 2016, when the Orbán government introduced the CSOK that stands for Családi Otthonteremtési Kedvezmény – which roughly translates to “home-starting allowance for families” –, there has been an ongoing debate about the effects and importance of this action. Several groups have debated that this initiative and general steer towards supporting families with two, three, or even more children are pushing women to have children and that the government views women as baby-making machines.

The Guardian just recently released a video in which they interviewed three different Hungarian women and asked what they think about this general governmental incentive and what their experience is on whether there is social pressure on them or not. When the government introduced this package,

Orbán said that families with two children could receive HUF 22 million (€61,000) and families with three (or more) children could receive HUF 35 million (€97,000) worth of allowance.

In 2019, the government also introduced even more allowances and other assistances for families, such as financial help to purchasing new family cars.

In general, with the help of several media outlets, both online and offline and through conferences, the government wants to promote the idea to start families. This sometimes can go in both directions as not so long ago, one of their campaign videos sparked controversy. You can read about the case HERE. In Hungary, just as in Europe in general, the ageing of the population is a reality, and the government thinks that helping their own country’s citizens to settle down and have more children is the solution to the problem.

The Guardian’s journalist, Leah Green, first interviewed the editor-in-chief of She, a popular website for women in Hungary. It generally deals with topics such as fashion, women’s relationships, and careers. In their meeting, the editors talked about new topic ideas and were pondering about the recent opinions on marriage and having children. As we also wrote in our guide to dating Hungarian women, Vanda mentioned that most Hungarian women are romantic and family-oriented:

“Most Hungarian women have the desire to have children and to have a family, but I have experienced that, recently, having kids usually comes much later in many people’s lives.”

The editor-in-chief’s personal view is that there is no pressure for her. She added that she would like to have children one day, but she currently does not have any. She was 31 when the interview was made.

Virág and Dániel, a child-free couple, were the next interviewees. They had a much different experience. They experienced more judgement from their environment. They think they are excluded and considered to be worth less than married couples with children.

Virág and Dániel received rude messages and even a death threat on the internet stating that “women’s best goal is having children”. Virág mentions that she feels like the Hungarian government displays childfree people – among other groups – as the enemy.

Finally, Green interviewed a family with three children. But as the interview progresses, we soon find out that Veronika’s extended family also has three children on her mother’s side as well as on her father’s side. Both her brother and her sister have a family with three children. Green joined the gathering family who were celebrating Veronika’s mother’s birthday and asked about all of their opinions on the matter.

“If you would like to have a big family and a lot of children, in Hungary, you have the opportunity to establish that. What I think is the best is that you can get tax allowances after children, and meals in both the school and kindergarten are usually free or very cheap if you have three children,” she said.

Her brother and sister agree with her, and they think that it is important to have families. Veronika’s mother and father have been married for 40 years, and she also mentioned that she would have wanted six children.

“People’s values have been muddled. The family model sprang a leak when the sexual revolution came to be. I can understand that all of us long for freedom. […] I cannot tell you where you can find yours,” Veronika’s mother said.

Read alsoHungarian footballer Gulácsi speaks up for rainbow families

Source: Youtube / The Guardian