Orbán's family policy cornucopia
Hungary's government wants to boost the country's birth rate with financial incentives. According to its new family plan all women under 40 who marry for the first time will receive a loan equivalent to 30,000 euros. With every child they bear repayment of the loan will be deferred and successively waived. How much sense does this family policy make?
Hungary's family policy unique in Europe
The Orbán government has put itself in the pole position regarding family support, Magyar Hírlap comments approvingly:
“The national-Christian government is family-friendly not just in its words, but also in its deeds. Year for year it has increased social benefits for families. ... Today already five percent of the GDP is spend on the nation's main objective - family support. That's more than anywhere else in Europe. The result: the birth rate is rising once more, as is the number of marriages, while the mortality rate remains stable. The new 7-point action plan announced by Orbán on Sunday is now the icing on the cake.”
The poorest won't benefit
This money won't help the poorest families, Polityka points out:
“As soon as the family package was announced, voices criticising the initiative were heard in Hungary. They stress that the proposals take no account of the poorest people: tax cuts won't help they because they already pay very little in taxes. And they won't be able to buy a home or a car or pay back a loan, even if it was subsidised by the state. Many of the 750,000 Hungarian Roma are in such a situation. And the politicians also failed to mention that roughly 600,000 Hungarians have moved to Western Europe, which is one of the reasons for the depopulation.”
Sending women back to the kitchen
Hungarian women should be cautious regarding this support from the state, warns Aftonbladet:
“Right-wing populists don't talk about what this kind of support does to women and their independence. For example how it affects a woman who is abandoned after spending most of her adult life at home taking care of the children. ... A growing number of women have started to protest in demonstrations against the lack of equality in the country. Hungary is already known for its brutal refugee policy, its Islamophobia and the open anti-Semitism of its leading politicians. ... Gender studies have been banned there, and the media are controlled. Now comes the next step: the role of women is being changed and the clocks are being turned back.”