In just under two months, more than 36,000 people have applied for one form of support or another as part of the family protection action plan.

Katalin Novák, Minister of State for Family and Youth Affairs of the Ministry of Human Capacities stressed that the family protection action plan seeks to ensure that there should be no obstacle to people deciding to have children. It seeks to ensure that young couples are aware that if they wish to start a family, they will receive all the help they need with raising their children.

As part of the family protection action plan, families have been able to apply for four new forms of support from the first of July.

Among married couples planning to have children, the baby expecting support is very popular; more than twenty-three thousand couples have already applied for it, the Minister of State highlighted. She added that applicants need not be newly married to be eligible for the any-purpose, interest-free loan of ten million forints, and already having children is likewise not a disqualifying circumstance.

The car purchase support for large families is also very popular. The number of applicants in the first two months has exceeded prior expectations: more than eleven thousand applications have been submitted, she said. As part of this support arrangement, families with minimum three children may receive maximum two and a half million forints for the purchase of new seven-seater cars, she indicated.

She added that more than three thousand people have availed themselves of the optional reduction of the mortgage debts of families with three or more children. From the first of July, upon the birth of the second child a debt of one million forints is cancelled, upon the birth of the third child four million forints is cancelled, while upon the birth of every further child another one million forints is cancelled from the outstanding housing mortgage loan, she detailed.

Mrs Novák stressed that the housing ‘csok’ loans of HUF 10 million and HUF 15 million with preferential interest are now also available for the purchase of used properties, and hundreds have already availed themselves of this possibility.

The Minister of State highlighted that next year’s budget already features the amounts that guarantee coverage, on the one hand, for the new benefits and allowances offered from the first of July, and on the other hand, for the personal income tax exemption provided for mothers with four or more children and the child care allowance of grandparents available from next year.

Mrs Novák also said that many creche places will be available at lower cost. Additionally, more and more children receive school textbooks free of charge and free meals. This, in combination with the family tax benefit and other forms of family support, shows that the government is seeking to provide help in every situation for those who wish to have and raise children in a responsible manner, the Minister of State added.

(Ministry of Human Capacities/MTI)