Following the Year of Families, the family-friendly Hungary may strengthen further
Following the Year of Families, the family-friendly Hungary may strenthen further, as it is still in the focus of the government to eliminate any barrier to the start to life and family formation of young people, said the Secretary of State for Family and Youth Affairs of the Ministry of Human Capacities.
At the conference organized by the National Association of Large Families, held at the Maria Kopp Institute for Demography and Families (KINCS), Katalin Novák has announced that this year they wish to prioritize the role of fathers within the family. As another important family policy issue, she has mentioned child protection and the support of young people's start of life. Referring to the latter, she touched upon the national consultation on family protection, which was answered by almost 1.4 million. She said that completing the evaluation would be a matter of days, with which the government will get not only a mandate but a ‘homework to be done’.
Katalin Novák has highlighted to the attendees of the Conference of Family Organizations VI, that the aim was for Hungary to once again become a growing, rejuvenating nation, and that the government continues to regard organisations with similar goals as a partner. She has recalled the support of more than 1,500 programs organized by family organizations last year, during which they were able to ‘mobilize’ hundreds of thousands of people.
According to her opinion, also via the help of family organizations, they have been getting closer to the goal of a ‘family-friendly Hungary’ in the last eight years.
The Secretary of State said that this year more than 2,000 billion forints (app 6 000 000 €) are available for various family support services in the central budget, and this amount has doubled since 2010. ‘There were never so many financial sources for home creation or family tax relief’ she added.
Katalin Novák enumerated the forms of support introduced in the Year of Families, among them - in certain cases - the reduction of mortgage loans and the suspension or total abolition of student loans.
The amount of family tax allowance for two children has risen, the possibility of free language exams and driving theory tests have been introduced, the credit facility related to CSOK (family housing allowance) has been extended to HUF 15 million for large families and those with two children, and the HUF 10 million loan was opened for those with two children.
At the same time, Katalin Novák drew attention to the fact that all support is worth as much as many can benefit from it. Family organizations have therefore been asked to help them in familiarize as many young people as possible with these opportunities.
The Secretary of State also touched upon the advertising spots called "parenthood is an adventure", revealing the beauty of family life, the most important result of which was that young people began to talk about the subject and thus may find their own answers.
