The majority of Hungarians say demographic problems threaten Europe's future
Hungarians understand and take seriously the demographic challenges that most of them believe threaten Europe’s future as a whole, according to the latest representative survey by the Mária Kopp Institute for Demography and Families (KINCS). The overwhelming majority of respondents believe that the new European Commission should pay much more attention to families, and eight out of ten also agree that the need to support families and childbearing should be raised at EU level during the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which starts on 1 July 2024.
From 1 July 2024, Hungary will once again hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, focusing its political agenda on seven main issues, including tackling Europe's demographic challenges. In this context, KINCS' research in May also focused on the demographic situation, which is posing increasingly worrying challenges for the European Union, thus undermining its competitiveness.
Sixty-nine percent of respondents to the KINCS’ survey were aware that Hungary will take over the EU presidency from 1 July, with those over 65 and those with higher education being the most informed. However, only 27% of respondents knew that the European Union currently has 27 Member States. The majority (88%) agreed that the European Union should pay more attention to families. 78% of respondents agreed that it is a priority for Hungary during its Presidency to raise awareness in the European Union to the need to support families and childbearing.
The KINCS survey clearly shows that Hungarians understand and take the demographic challenges seriously. According to 78% of respondents, the European Union is facing serious demographic challenges, which 73% believe threaten Europe's future. However, they see the European Union as ignoring these problems, such as the ageing society and the decline in the birth rate. Two thirds of respondents think the EU is doing nothing to have more children, while 80% think that the EU wishes to solve the problem of depopulation by immigration.
81% of respondents are aware that the number of immigrants in the European Union has increased significantly, while the number of births has decreased. Four out of ten Hungarians believe that both the number of births and the desire to have children have risen in their country, while only one in six think the same is true for the EU as a whole.
Methodology: the national representative survey was conducted by telephone interviewing 1,000 people among the adult population between 9-21 May 2024.
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