All Hungarian children are a TREASURE*, may they be born anywhere in the world
All Hungarian children are a TREASURE*, may they be born anywhere in the world
The Umbilical Cord Program is still popular among Hungarians across the border, thanks to which, since January 2018, maternity allowance and the life-start allowance for young people, the so called baby bond, to which Hungarian children born abroad are eligible in the same way as children born in Hungary. With the allowances, the Hungarian government recognizes also financially Hungarian families who have children anywhere in the world.
Since the introduction of this program, a total of 22,340 Hungarian families abroad have applied for maternity allowance and 19,289 have requested the opening of a life-start deposit account for their child. This means that together with the children born abroad, at least 100,000 Hungarian babies were born every year around the world.
Almost two-thirds of the subsidies were used by people living in the Carpathian Basin, including 70 percent in Romania, 15 percent in Serbia, 9 percent in Ukraine, and 6 percent in Slovakia.
Outside the Carpathian Basin, subsidies were paid for more than 8,000 babies. 95 percent of children were born in Europe and 5 percent in other parts of the world. Applications were received from a total of 68 countries, most of them from Transylvania and Germany.
The amount of the maternity allowance is HUF 64,125, in the case of twin children HUF 85,500 per child. When the life-start deposit account is opened, the state provides HUF 42,500, which bears interest at the same rate as inflation each year. Simultaneously with joining the Umbilical Cord Program, the application for the child's Hungarian citizenship or Hungarian identity card also starts. Thus, in addition to financial support, the significance of the Umbilical Cord program is also decisive for the naturalization of children of Hungarian origin.
Although the number of applications has slightly decreased in the epidemic situation, applications can be submitted online within six months after the birth of the child. As the emergency situation passes, more people are expected to submit delayed applications. Signs of this are already visible in Vojvodina, where there was already a rise of applications in May.
Almost 4.5 million Hungarians living abroad contribute to the growth of the Hungarian population. The preservation of the Hungarian identity of these children and families depends to a large extent on help from Hungary. With the Umbilical Cord program, the Hungarian family support system has crossed the geographical borders, expressing the fact that all Hungarian children are a treasure, may they be born anywhere in the world.
*The short form of the name of Maria Kopp Institute for Demography and Families, KINCS, means treasure in Hungarian.
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