’Women, brides, mothers - From plans to reality’
We held a conference entitled ’Women, brides, mothers - From plans to reality’ at the Hungarian National Museum, where we presented the film, ’Birthgap - Childless World’ by Stephen J. Shaw, followed by a presentation of the director and a round table discussion.
At the beginning of the conference, the guests were greeted by Tünde Fűrész, the president of the Mária Kopp Institute (KINCS), and then by Szilárd Demeter, the newly appointed director general of the Hungarian National Museum, who expressed his joy that for the first time after his appointment he could speak at an event held by KINCS. As he said, the mission of the Hungarian National Museum is to preserve, convey and strengthen the national and Western culture through the heritage we care for, as it is that has kept us in the Carpathian Basin and will keep our children as well.
In his presentation, Stephen J. Shaw praised the family-friendly attitude of our country and the Hungarian family policy, which encourages childbearing with the help of a number of measures. He emphasized that the problem of childlessness is not only a political issue, but a phenomenon that affects all societies, yet our country is the only one that deals with this issue. In his opinion, the reason why Hungary is successful in increasing the fertility rate is because it helps all children wished for to be born.
According to Dr. Ágnes Hornung, although the film confirmed that the Hungarian family policy that was started more than 13 years ago is a good way to go, these days further changes are needed. The Secretary of State responsible for families of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation pointed out that, while previously the emphasis was placed on large families, today the birth of the first and second child must also be supported.
Dr. Irén Rövid, head of analysis at KINCS, examined the reasons behind childlessness, which, according to the institute's survey, is mostly experienced among people over 40 years of age. According to her, the main reasons for childlessness are the lack of a lasting relationship, infertility problems, career building and financial reasons. Childlessness however is not considered ideal by any of the age groups.
Dr. Dóra Vesztergom, director of the OKFŐ Institute of Human Reproduction, pointed out the connection between age and infertility problems. As she said, delaying the age of childbearing is dangerous because women over the age of 40 are increasingly likely to face infertility problems, and at this age the effectiveness of IVF treatments is not guaranteed.
Dr. Zsolt Spéder, head of the Doctoral School of Demography and Sociology at the University of Pécs, said at the round table discussion that the proportion of childless people in Hungary has doubled over the past 20 years. He also spoke about the fact that nowadays the rate of childlessness is increasing not only among highly-educated, but also among women of low-status. The reason behind this is the lack of a stable relationship.
The film ‘Birthgap - Childless World’ is available here:https://youtu.be/hIvFDjlZDoE
