The number of childbirths has been continuously rising in Hungary for the past two years, Minister of State for Family and Youth Affairs Katalin Novák said at a press conference in Budapest on Thursday.

Mrs. Novák said that similarly to most European countries, Hungary has been fighting a decline of the population for more than thirty years. She said that each country is trying to find its own solutions to the problem and some of them regard migration as one such solution, but Hungary does not share that view.

Also, she said that the government has been assisting Hungarian families for years to improve the conditions for family growth. She said that the decision to have children is not just an emotional one as young couples must also factor in the cost of raising their children and the government is of assistance in that respect.

She said fertility rates in Hungary have never been so high in the past few years, even though the previous generation of baby boomers (1950 to 1955) is now past the fertile age. She added that the number of childbirths rose by 3700 in the past two years while the number of marriages increased by 9.2 percent in 2010-2014 compared to a decline of 23 percent between 2002 and 2010.

The Minister of State also said that the government will continue to increase its family subsidies which are planned to reach 300 billion forints (EUR 967 million) by 2019 and other social expenditures – such as extending maternity benefits, providing free textbooks and free meals for children – are also part of the same effort.

(Ministry of Human Capacities)