The Family Protection Action Plan, Hungary's most popular family policy program, is one-year-old
The Family Protection Action Plan, Hungary's most popular family policy program, is one-year-old
On the first of July, the Family Protection Action Plan is one year old. It is the most complex, generous, comprehensive and effective package of family policy measures in the last ten years. Its success is shown by the fact that in one year, with national coverage, 200,000 families received support thanks to the program, and as a result, Hungary's population indicators also improved significantly. 90 % of Hungarians of childbearing age agree with all seven measures of the Action Plan, the most popular one is the expansion of nursery capacity - according to the latest representative survey conducted by the Maria Kopp Institute for Demography and Families (KINCS). KINCS conducted a survey of the measures at the time of the introduction of the Family Protection Action Plan and this spring as well, and also monitored the number of applications day by day.
Among the measures of the Family Protection Action Plan, the subsidy for young married couples was the most popular one. Since its introduction, nearly 100,000 (96,235) couples have applied it, more than four-fifths of whom have received the maximum amount, ie HUF 10 million. 11,5 thousand people applied for CSOK loans, almost 13 thousand people used the support for mortgages, 27 thousand people made use of car purchase support for large families, and 43 thousand people used the personal income tax exemption for mothers with four children. Supervision of children is supported by the expanding nursery system and the child-raising leave for grandparents.
The Maria Kopp Institute for Demography and Families examined the popularity of the Family Protection Action Plan in 2019 and this year as well. Opinion polls of 1,000 people revealed that support for measures had also increased compared to last year's high, with 9 out of 10 agreeing with all seven measures. The most popular are the nursery developments, subsidy for young married couples and CSOK, but other elements are also particularly useful, according to three-quarters of the respondents.
Most of those who have taken advantage of one of the measures in the past year, have reported that they received enormous financial assistance to raise their children in greater well-being and safety. Nearly 40 percent of them said the support changed their lives, made them more proud and confident. One-fifth of them would not have had a child without the Family Protection Action Plan, and more than a tenth of their marriages could clearly be linked to these subsidies. Last year, two thirds of the respondents, and this year already three quarters, said that the measures of the Family Protection Action Plan clearly improve the demographic situation of Hungary.
This is also supported by population data, as over the past six months, the desire to have children has increased by 6 percent. After a long time, the number of births has begun to increase, despite the fact that the number of women of child-bearing age continues to decline. Between December 2019 and May 2020, 44,308 children were born in Hungary, which is 5.4 percent, numerically 2,256 babies more than in the same period last year. In the winter and spring months, 24,120 couples have walked down the aisle, which is 30 percent more than a year earlier, even despite the epidemic. The number of deaths was 6.2 percent lower between December and May, so natural weight loss decreased by 23 percent due to a decrease in deaths and an increase in births.
Methodology: KINCS telephone questionnaire survey was conducted in 2019 and in 2020 as well, on a sample of 1,000 people.
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