Marriage is going through something of a renaissance in Hungary; not for thirty years had as many marriages been contracted as in 2019, the Minister of State for Family and Youth Affairs of the Ministry of Human Capacities stated.

At a press conference held during the Week of Marriage at the 5th District Registrar’s Office, Katalin Novák said between January and November 2019 some 62,000 people got married; this is 84 per cent up from 2010.

The number of marriages increased in every region and in every age group, while the 11,300 weddings held last August is a forty-year record, she added.

She recalled that there was a negative record in 2010 when twice as many marriages were terminated as concluded. In the past few years in Europe, the number of weddings has increased most in Hungary, the Minister of State stressed.

Mrs Novák highlighted that the number of divorces had reached a record low. While in 2010 the ratio of the number of divorces to the number of new marriages was 67 per cent, in 2018 this percentage was only 33 per cent.

The Minister of State also pointed out that so far 150,000 couples had availed themselves of the tax benefit of young people marrying for the first time – an amount of five thousand forints per month which has been available since 2015 –, while there had been more than 67,000 applications for the baby expecting support in force since last July. Most couples requested the maximum amount of HUF 10 million, she added.

The goal of the government is to ensure that everyone in Hungary should be able to have as many children as they wish and when they wish to have them. The Hungarian family support system seeks to help with this, the Minister of State said.

In answer to a question, Mrs Novák said during the course of consultations, leading CDU politicians confirmed that they would like Fidesz to remain a member of the European People’s Party, and to this end, they are also prepared to act as a mediator.

Leaving past disputes behind, Fidesz would like to talk about important issues regarding the future of Europe and the European people, she added.

Regarding the fact that Fidesz’s party foundation is opening an office in Brussels, she said the Brussels office of the Foundation for a Civic Hungary will create an opportunity to inform those living in Brussels about the real facts so that they obtain their information not only from distorted news.

Tünde Fűrész, President of the Mária Kopp Institute for Demography and Families said it is welcome news and hopeful that this many marriages are being contracted, and that at the same time the number of divorces is decreasing significantly.

She also mentioned that, according to research, 75 per cent of Hungarians do not regard marriage as a dated institution, 9 people out of 10 even recommend it. This shows that Hungarians are pro-marriage and believe in the institution of marriage, she highlighted.

She pointed out that in Hungary the majority of people regard a stable relationship as the most important factor in raising children; two thirds of elderly people, while more than fifty per cent of young people believe it is important for people to get married before they have children.

She added that 97 per cent of those intending to get married would also like to have children.

(MTI)