Interest in the Hungarian Baby Bond, now in its 20th year, is growing in South Korea as well
The Baby Bond has been supporting children’s future start in life for 20 years now, and since 2018, parents of Hungarian children born abroad have also been eligible to apply. Currently, 440,000 children in Hungary hold a Start Securities Account, and the total amount of savings in Baby Bonds is approaching 530 billion forints. The support for young people starting their lives and the associated 19-year maturity Baby Bond serve as a model for many countries to follow, and there is also keen interest in it in South Korea.
In addition to Germany and the United States, South Korea is also developing financial programs aimed at encouraging parental savings from early childhood to support children as they start their lives. In this spirit, staff from the Korea Institute of Finance visited our institute to receive detailed information about the Start-up Grant introduced by the Hungarian government in 2006, the Treasury Start Securities Account, and the related Baby Bond.
The delegation members explained that, in cooperation with the Korean Financial Services Commission, they are working to develop a financial scheme similar to the Hungarian one, which is why they were interested in every detail regarding the Start-up Grant and Start Securities Account systems. The meeting provided an excellent opportunity to strengthen professional cooperation and share best practices between the two countries.
