TREASURE is real treasure, but are enough children born?

Nowadays, the voice of the liberal side has become louder again, because they can claim, citing apparently objective data, that the government's demographic program has failed, since fewer children were born this year than a year before. What is the opinion of Tünde Fűresz, president of the Mária Kopp Institute for Population and Families (KINCS) about this statement?

- The family policy of the last decade has provided outstanding help to families with children. This is proven by the fact that the total fertility rate, which shows the willingness to start a family, rose to a European record after the low point in 2011 until 2021, while the number of marriages also increased, while the number of divorces decreased. These are facts. Everyone also knows that the external environment has changed significantly in recent years, and Europe was hit first by a pandemic, then by war and the energy crisis. The latter two are still present today, and their influence can be felt in all European countries. While the number of births dropped drastically in many countries during the years of Covid, 2019-2020, the number of children born in Hungary increased from 89,193 to more than 93,000 thanks to family support measures, including the Baby Váró support.

- It is a long-known phenomenon that in times of crisis, as a result of uncertainty and unpredictability, people often postpone starting a family, so the change of regime, the Bokros package, or even the economic crisis of 2008 significantly reduced the number of births. However, the Hungarian government supports families even in the midst of the current difficulties, and even expands the scope of family support every year.

- It is logical that if there are fewer women of childbearing age, proportionally fewer children are born. At the same time, it is a fact that any useful package of measures to encourage women to have children, its benefits (that is, the encouraging steps) can be felt after at least two decades. What do you think of the government's latest plans? What steps do you consider to be mature now and are there any plans that would still be worth refining?

- While the number of women aged 20-39 (the most children are born in this age group) decreased by more than 322,000 between 2010 and 2023, the change in the number of births did not follow this, but remained at the same level until recent years. This is a significant result in itself, since, on the other hand, the number of women of childbearing age increased in vain until 1997, the number of births decreased continuously at the same time, thanks to the lack of family policy and the measures of the Bokros package that made families impossible. However, it was during that period that the generation of the Ratkó grandchildren entered the family founding age, from which they expected not fewer children, but, on the contrary, an outstanding increase in the number of births. However, this did not happen.

- Although expanding the family is indeed a long-term decision, and even after the decision, you have to wait at least nine months for a baby, but this does not necessarily mean two decades.

The last decade of family-friendly governance is a good example of the fact that certain measures can have an effect even within a few years.

The government constantly monitors their impact and, if necessary, adapts them to the changed environment. The CSOK Plusz can be used from January 1 this year, and the nursery support for families living in the countryside can be used again from September 1, 2024, and the family tax discount will be doubled in two steps by January 1, 2026. According to KINCS surveys, these measures enjoy broad social support, as 80 percent of Hungarians agree with the kindergarten subsidy and 86 percent with the doubling of the family tax allowance.

- KINCS is a real treasure, because as far as I know, such a family-centric organization that operates according to traditional and therefore only rational principles does not exist anywhere in Europe. Is their work exemplary, but also effective? How can success be measured in your activity?

- The representative researches, analyzes and publications of KINCS contribute to getting a more detailed picture of Hungarians' opinions on family policy and family.

Family – Value – Space was published , which in 16 studies deals with attitudes related to the family, family roles, marriage, family formation and religiosity, and we also held a conference related to this. In February, in the framework of a workshop conference, we presented the "Twin Research in Social Sciences - A Selection of the Works of the Students of the Twinning Workshop" . In March, Women, brides, mothers - From plans to reality?! we held a conference at the Hungarian National Museum. In April, we presented the Fate Shapers – Stories of Successful Roma Men , which provides an insight into the exemplary lives of twelve successful, purposeful and active men. Family-Friendly Settlements Expo , where numerous family-friendly settlements and professional and civil organizations dedicated to the cause of families presented themselves. In May, we presented the "Demography and competitiveness in the European Union ", which presents the correlations between demographic processes and competitiveness in 13 chapters, and after that we had an event or important research every month. We were there at several domestic festivals to promote the institute. And one of the most recent events was our workshop conference on the KINCS Well-being Research entitled "The family as spiritual medicine" And on November 13, we held the presentation of the European Union Family Policy Outlook 2024 volume. From this book, those interested can learn about the family policies of the EU member states. Our publications, which are available in the KINCS e-library, represent important scientific and political added value in the formation and evaluation of family policy.

- KINCS also contributes to the representation of aspects of Hungarian family policy on the international stage:

On October 9, 2024, the European Committee of the Regions accepted its opinion on the statement Demographic changes in Europe: action toolbox published by the European Commission on October 11, 2023, the preparation of which was prepared as an expert by the vice president of strategy and coordination of our institute, dr. József Árpád Mészáros also helped.

- We could list many different reasons why the desire to have children is low throughout Europe, why some relationships break up or are not formed at all. Despite the fact that Mária Kopp's research proved that the family is a health protective factor. However, we must talk about one madness because it aggressively tries to destroy the traditional family model, and that is the LGBTQ ideology. And unfortunately, it is not only an ideology, but also a violent attempt. It has already achieved its destructive goal in many places in the West. How long do you think we can exclude this danger from Hungary? Can we stay out of our minds?

– Hungary is a child- and family-friendly country, this is also supported by KINCS research.

According to surveys, 83 percent of Hungarians consider the protection of children to be an important issue. As for the concept of family, Hungarians almost unanimously agree with the traditional concept,

which is supported by the research studies presented in our volume Family – Value – Space. Everyone in Hungary considers married couples raising children to be family, but also single parents, grandparents or guardians, who were defined as family in a much higher proportion than same-sex couples, whether they have children or not. So it seems that the media representation of the LGBTQ ideology is greater than its real social support.

– Is there a step that you could recommend to the government's attention in order to further improve the demographic situation?

– The government pays special attention to the demographic situation and sees the solution in supporting and strengthening families. That's why

created the stability that did not characterize the support of Hungarian families before 2010. If necessary, feel free to change the previous constructions,

so that the measure itself can remain effective and meet the interests of families. This was the case, for example, with the transformation of housing subsidies, the introduction of CSOK Plusz, or even the transformation of the Babaváró subsidy, but this is also the case with the doubling of the family tax allowance, for which there is a real social demand. The doubled family tax allowance can have a positive effect on our economic and demographic situation, since by leaving more money with families, it can contribute to the birth of siblings and the revitalization of the economy.

- In the current economic environment burdened by war and external crises, it is extremely important that family policy measures are as stable and predictable as possible.

With the worker's loan, which will come into effect on January 1, 2025, working young people between the ages of 17-25 can get up to HUF 4 million, free of interest, and the favorable conditions and long repayment period help them with predictable conditions, and repayment after each child born they receive a discount, and even after the birth of the third child, the entire debt is forgiven. We trust that the measures introduced and planned now will provide families with sufficient security and stability. As a government background institution, our task is to explore family policy needs and monitor the measures.

Author: György Tóth Jr

Photo: KINCS