Family 2025
Since 2020, we have lived in an era of crises and threats that have affected the situation of families and the desire to start a family across Europe, but there is a good chance that 2025 will bring positive changes to the lives of families. It is in this spirit that the Mária Kopp Institute for Demography and Families (KINCS) and the Századvég Public Knowledge Center Foundation organised the conference "Family 2025" at the Ethnographic Museum.
At the conference, Minister Balázs Hankó stressed that the aim of Hungarian family policy is to protect against anti-family ideologies and to provide financial security for families raising children. But this was not always the case. The Minister for Culture and Innovation recalled that the 1995 Bokros package took an anti-family stance, which resulted in 322,000 fewer women of childbearing age living in Hungary today than in 2010. If they had given birth, there would be 212,000 more children in Hungary today, while the number of newborns would have been around 100,000 instead of the 77,000 expected in 2024.
MEP Enikő Győri pointed out that these days it takes courage to talk about families in the European Union, however Hungary had the courage to introduce the issue of demography and families into the European thinking during both of its EU presidencies in 2011 and 2024. The Patriots for Europe MEP said that an essential element of the European Union should be that member countries learn from each other.
Tünde Fűrész, President of the Mária Kopp Institute, said that in 2023, only 3.66 million children were born in the European Union, a drop of almost 10 percent compared to 2020. In Hungary, this decline was about half as high in the same period, despite the fact that the number of women of childbearing age has never been so low in Hungary. Between 2010 and 2023, Hungary saw the largest increase in the number of births per 1,000 women aged 20-39 compared to other EU member states, and migration did not play a role in this as compared to other member states.
Dénes Ádám, Deputy President of the Communications and Architecture Directorate of the
Hungarian Central Statistical Office, continued by saying that in the last ten years, one of the most important indicators of childbearing behaviour, the total fertility rate (TFR), has not reached the reproductive level in any EU Member State. In contrast, between 2010 and 2021, Hungary's fertility rate (1.61) has risen the most in the EU, putting us among the EU leaders. However, the improvement is not reflected in the birth rate because the number of women of childbearing age is decreasing as the children of baby boomers get older, therefore fewer women have to have more children.
In her presentation, Kinga Kenyeres pointed out that in Hungary, a full social consensus exists on the importance of the family. The Chief Executive Officer of Századvég Foundation said that according to their surveys, 88% of Europeans and 98% of Hungarians consider family very important, with an average of 2.4 children considered to be the ideal number.
At the conference, Balázs Hankó signed a letter welcoming the United States' re-accession to the Geneva Consensus Declaration. The Declaration was established in 2020 and with the accession of the USA, 40 states are now part of this international family and life protection alliance, whose secretariat has been held by KINCS since 2022.
The professional presentations were followed by a roundtable discussion on "Last year's economic and social changes from the point of view of families", preceded by a keynote speech by Dr. Ádám Csepeti, Deputy State Secretary for Strategic Affairs Coordination. The discussion was moderated by Prof. Dr. Ágnes Engler, Head of the Education Research Centre at KINCS, and Dr. András Pári, Scientific Vice-President of the Institute.
In his keynote speech, Dr Ádám Csepeti pointed out that the leaders of the EU institutions have not made population issues a priority, which has led to the continent's economic backwardness. He said that the European Union still owed the EU a comprehensive population strategy that would openly acknowledge the key role of the family as the basic unit of society and the economy in competitiveness.
Péter Pillók, Director of the Social Processes and Media Research Institute at Századvég, said that according to their surveys, 40% of people reported financial difficulties, but at the same time the willingness to save has increased and more people at the bottom of the social scale feel that their opportunities are expanding.
Analysing the economic data, Piroska Szalai, an adviser to the prime minister, said that plans to start a family are strongly linked to social mood and economic stability: if people do not see a secure future, they delay having children. At the same time, one million people have been lifted out of poverty in recent years and Hungary has seen the largest reduction in child poverty in Europe.
Katalin Kardosné Gyurkó, the ministerial commissioner responsible for promoting intergenerational cooperation, stressed that the stability of the family support system is based on the performance of the Hungarian economy, and that the impact of positive changes can only be felt later. She hopes that as economic indicators improve, the time to start a family will not be delayed.
Prof. Dr. Csaba Lentner pointed out that economic crises are the result of external factors, but the Hungarian government has protected families and jobs all along. According to the Head of the Institute for Public Finance at the National University of Public Service, the current unemployment rate of 4% is positive and the government is preparing further stimulus measures for 2025, which will provide families with extra resources.
The second round table discussion, entitled "The impact of the zeitgeist on decisions about the family", was opened by a keynote speech by Miklós Szánthó, Director General of the Center for Fundamental Rights, who compared the woke ideology to modern communism. According to him, this ideology attacks the family, the child and life, and since the family is the last line of defence for the individual, the family is currently the target of woke.
Dr. Attila Beneda pointed out that consumer society cannot tolerate the synergies in families and therefore tries to break them up. The Deputy State Secretary for Family Affairs said that we must fight against a consumer society that is destroying the values that are essential for our young people.
Dr. Zoltán Lomnici Jr., Scientific Director of the Centre for Public Knowledge at Századvég, stressed that Hungary's Fundamental Law protects the institution of marriage and the family, and clearly states that the father is a man and the mother is a woman. The protection of families is also ensured by the cardinal law, therefore the legal protection of the family also has a strong basis.
Clinical psychologist Melinda Hal highlighted the uncertainty among young people, which makes it difficult to start a family and plan for the future. In her opinion, young people today are not able to plan ahead because the social environment around them is highly volatile, which affects their plans to start a family.
Nóra Király said that digitalisation is giving young people easy access to mainstream trends and content that is considered prohibited. The FICSAK president said that the government has already taken steps, such as restricting mobile phone use in schools, but surveys show that families are demanding stricter regulation of smart devices.
The round table discussion was moderated by two KINCS colleagues, Dr. Irén Rövid and András Székely.
The conference was closed by Róbert Zsigó, Deputy Minister and parliamentary state secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation.
