Hungary stands for the protection of families - International Day of the Family
Hungary stands for the protection of families. This has been our policy focus each and every day since 2010 - not just on the day of families," said Tünde Fűrész at a press conference on the occasion of the International Day of the Family. She added that the family is the smallest and most important fundamental unit of society, and something currently threatened by three factors: depopulation, the crisis of values - many people nowadays want to relativise the family - and the economic crisis caused by war.
The President of KINCS stressed that Hungary has seen an increase in fertility rates, the highest in the EU since 2010. “We are successfully fighting the crisis in values and our family-friendly approach is an example to follow. Our country is a leader in the pro-peace approach - for the sake of families - and we guard the value of and seek to protect the family in every way. Furthermore, we are trying to solve negative demographic trends not by migration, but by supporting families.”
Tünde Fűrész stressed that Hungary's employment-based family policy is a true success story, and that many are looking to Hungary both in Europe and around the world, what’s more in many places Hungary’s family support measures have been adopted.
“Since 2010, every year has been the Year of Families," said Dr. Attila Beneda, Deputy State Secretary for Family Affairs at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, adding that more than 30 family support measures help Hungarian families, something truly unique in the world. “However, this family support system is not yet complete, the government seeks to introduce newer and newer measures to meet the needs of families, for example, this very year measures have been further extended, including the introduction of an income tax exemption for mothers under 30. All these measures are designed to strengthen the role of the family, to ensure that the number of children desired be born as soon as possible, that having children not be a financial loss but a financial advantage, furthermore to create a work-family balance," said Attila Beneda.
The deputy state secretary also said that they would like to strengthen those peripheries related to physical and mental health, so Hungary will continue the family-friendly maternity programme, in addition there is a plan to create a national mother’s milk bank and also plans for a "dementia action plan".
Speaking at the press conference, Dr. András Pári, Head of Research at KINCS, said that in Hungary the number of marriages in 2010, and the fertility rate in 2011, were at a "historic low", but by 2021 the fertility rate, which is an indicator of the rate people desire to have children, increased by almost 30 percent and the number of marriages doubled. As the number of marriages increased, so did the proportion of children born within marriage: while just over half of all children were born within marriage before 2015, 73% were born within marriage in 2022. In addition, the number of abortions has almost halved: one abortion for every two births in 2005 compared to one in four in 2022.
Dr. József Árpád Mészáros, Deputy Head of Strategy and International Affairs at KINCS, said that Hungary's family policy is a model for many European countries, with some elements being already adopted in Poland and Latvia, and positive feedback coming from the United States and the Far East.
