Hungarians are concerned about the demographic situation of our country

Written on 29 September 2021.

The demographic situation of Hungary, the demographic issues are of great concern to the majority of Hungarians. In connection with the fourth Budapest Demographic Summit, the Mária Kopp Institute for Demography and Families (KINCS) conducted a survey to find out how well Hungarians know the demographic processes of the country. Hungarians - among them mostly families with children - are aware that the desire to marry and have children has increased in the recent years.

One of the greatest problems in the Western world is that not enough children are born, even though it is difficult to talk about sustainable development without families raising children. Hungary stands for traditional family values, encourages starting a family and having children. The results of this family policy are now visible in the demographic data, but it is questionable how well Hungarians are aware of this.

The research of KINCS shows that the majority of Hungarians are particularly concerned about the country's demographic situation, as they gave an average value of 7 on a 10-point scale to this question. One in two people is specifically interested in population issues, a quarter are not interested at all, and a quarter are neutral on the subject.

Spouses, children and large families are primarily interested in demographic trends. The more children one raises, the more he/she is preoccupied with population issues: 61 percent of three-child, 56 percent of two-child, 48 percent of single-child parents are interested in the topic, compared to only 35 percent of their childless peers. In terms of marital status, married people are the ones who are most interested (56%) and singles are the least (37%).

The most important record-breaking results of family-friendly measures over the last ten years, which were perhaps the most popular in public discourse, are known to the vast majority, such as the significant increase in the number of marriages or the growing desire to have children. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents (64%) are aware of the fact that the number of marriages has increased, and the majority know that the number of births and the fertility rate (58% and 53%) has also increased in Hungary between 2010 and 2020.

Respondents' knowledge of the number of divorces, abortions and returnees is somewhat less, despite the fact that both the number of divorces and the number of abortions has dropped significantly: they were only lower than the current number six decades ago. And since 2016, more of our compatriots are moving back to Hungary than who are leaving the country. In comparison, only a quarter of the respondents knew that the number of abortions has decreased in the last 10 years and that the number of returning Hungarians was constantly increasing. Interestingly, people are least aware of the decline in the number of divorces, even though 1958 was the last year when fewer marriages were dissolved.

It is clear from the KINCS research that people are becoming more and more interested in demographic processes, especially those raising children. People perceive the impact of Hungarian family policy on population, its demographic results and they know its main Europe-wide significant successes.

Between 2010 and 2020, the main population movement data in Hungary changed as follows:

Methodology: The national representative research of KINCS was conducted by telephone survey of 1,000 people among the adult population between September 15-18, 2021.

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