Balancing Work and Family Life – Presentation of the Publication ‘Family-Friendly Sustainability’
The publication Family-Friendly Sustainability has been released, summarizing the core principles of family-friendly operation and outlining best practices that promote employee satisfaction and a balance between work and family life. The joint publication of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, the Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities, and the Mária Kopp Institute was presented to the press by Dr. Zsófia Koncz, State Secretary for Families, Dr. László Nagy, President of the Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities, and Dr. András Pári, the Scientific Vice-President of our Institute.
Dr. András Pári emphasized that reconciling work and family life is one of the central pillars of Hungarian family policy, aimed at ensuring that working and childbearing are not mutually exclusive but mutually reinforcing. The Scientific Vice-President of KINCS noted that an increasing number of companies today are seeking solutions and opportunities to support working mothers, fathers, and grandparents in achieving a better work–life balance. Such family-friendly measures include teleworking, part-time employment, granting extra leave to fathers upon the birth of their child, and organizing childcare during extended school holidays.
Dr. Zsófia Koncz explained that following the family-friendly turn of 2010, every measure has aimed at job creation, expanding support for families, ensuring work–life balance, and creating a family-friendly environment, with the goal of embedding the family-oriented approach into everyday life. As a result, the number of nursery places has doubled since 2010, increasing from 32,500 to over 70,000, and nurseries are now operating in 1,250 municipalities. This represents significant progress in the employment of mothers with young children, which has risen from 66 percent to 80 percent. Furthermore, Hungary is the only country that also enforces family-friendly principles in relation to ESG* (*ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance – a framework used internationally to evaluate how responsibly and sustainably a company or organization operates).
Dr. László Nagy, President of the Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities, pointed out that one of the foundations of the ESG-compatible corporate culture is paying particular attention to employees and their families. Family-friendly workplaces are also advantageous from an economic perspective: they reduce employee turnover, increase loyalty and commitment, and thereby improve productivity, innovation, and corporate value. The more such companies operate, the closer we come to improving economic and demographic indicators. The newly presented guide aims to provide practical assistance to companies in achieving this goal.
The publication Family-Friendly Sustainability is available in Hungarian on the KINCS website: https://www.koppmariaintezet.hu/books25/HU/2025/ESG.pdf
