On Sunday at a press conference in the maternity ward of the St. Imre Hospital in Budapest, Deputy State Minister for Family and Youth Affairs Tünde Fűrész said that the number of births in Hungary has risen continuously for the past twenty months, and the Government is committed to encouraging the continuation of this trend.
She said that Hungary is a family-friendly country, and her visit to the hospital was a symbolic gesture going beyond the material support government is already offering. Births in Hungary increased by 3.2% in 2014 compared with the previous year, while in the first two months of 2015 the increase accelerated to 3.6%.
Ms. Fűrész said the rising numbers are mainly due to the introduction of a supplementary childcare benefit and family tax allowances. The tax allowances alone mean that families’ incomes have risen by HUF 240 billion (EUR 790 million). She said mothers are the beneficiaries of these tax rebates in 54% of cases.
She also said that under the new regulations, last year 30,000 mothers were able to return to work without losing their childcare benefits after their child reached the age of one. In addition, 20,000 mothers benefited from increased childcare benefits after their second or third child.
The Deputy State Minister said that the Government’s job protection initiative has resulted in payments to the employers of 40,000 mothers, and 135,000 mothers took advantage of the early retirement scheme offered by the “Women 40” initiative. She said the Government recently announced a series of family support projects and tenders whose details can be found on the government webpage www.kormany.hu.
(MTI/Ministry of Human Capacities)
