The government did not only retain, but extended the available family support programmes during the coronavirus epidemic, the Parliamentary State Secretary at the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister said at the 8th conference of Family Organisations held on Friday at the Budapest Millennium Café.

At the event organised by the National Association of Large Families, Csaba Dömötör mentioned among others that from next July the amount of the infant care allowance and the grants available for meals for children will increase, and from the 2020-2021 school year every pupil will receive textbooks free of charge.

Next year, the government will spend more than HUF 2,300 billion on family support programmes from the budget, he stressed, adding that in other countries it is not evident that during a crisis period family support programmes are extended or retained.

The State Secretary highlighted that the government’s family policy is working, and has proved its effectiveness: ever more people are getting married, the number of divorces is on the decrease, while the total fertility rate has risen from 1.25 in 2010 to 1.5. In the first quarter of this year, more children were born compared with the year before despite the fact that the number of people of child-bearing age has decreased, he observed.

Mr Dömötör also said the crisis presented the people with difficulties not experienced for decades; however, despite the difficulties, it has made most families stronger. The State Secretary said thank you to all mothers who stood their ground “on days which sometimes seemed to never end”.

Deputy State Secretary for Family Policy at the Ministry of Human Resources Attila Beneda said the strengthening of families has become the government’s most important nation-policy strategy.

As part of this, they are closely cooperating with family organisations and non-governmental organisations, consult with them about the introduction of grants and other means of support as well as about the problems of families, he added. He highlighted that the cooperation is successful, and so the government will continue to rely on family and civil-society organisations also in the future. He also mentioned that the family protection action plan is the most successful family support programme: more than 100,000 persons have availed themselves of the baby expecting support, more than 25,000 persons have applied for the car purchase support provided for large families, and so far more than 40,000 persons have applied for the personal income tax exemption of mothers with four children.

The State Secretary said it is a welcome development that with the increase of the infant care allowance, in the first six months after birth, mothers could receive a higher income than when they worked.

Ministerial commissioner of the Liget Budapest Project László Baán said, in addition to being the largest European cultural development, the project is also one of the largest family-friendly developments.

Its goals include creating a venue where Hungarian families from the youngest to the oldest can have a good time. The large playground opened last autumn, too, is a family gathering place which some 200,000 persons have visited so far, he added.

President of the National Association of Large Families (Mrs) Kardosné, Katalin Gyurkó said the strength of families and their trust in the government manifested in a rise in the number of births have contributed to enabling Hungary to give the right answers in the situation which has developed due to the epidemic. In addition to the various forms of family support, the government also assisted families in other ways, including the credit debt repayment moratorium, the President said.

President of the Kopp Mária Institute for Demography and Families Tünde Fűrész highlighted that in the past six months, all demographic indicators have improved, while the number of marriages has risen – despite the restrictions imposed due to the epidemic – compared with the first six months of last year.

Approximately 200,000 persons have applied for elements of the family protection action plan, large families accounting for one third of applicants, she said.

She also said that applications for the baby expecting support and the car purchase grants of large families in a breakdown by counties and settlements are more or less in harmony with the relevant population figures; however, the family housing benefit ‘csok’ was requested by more people in villages than in cities.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)