A good economic policy creates the foundations for a good family policy, the Minister of Human Resources said in his welcome speech delivered on the second day of the Budapest Demographic Forum.
Zoltán Balog pointed out that it is the family that enables us to lead a happy and satisfied life, but if the family cannot fulfil this role for some reason, the State must step in. The Hungarian Government did just that between 2010 and 2013 when having children was a poverty risk in an indebted country, he added.
The then family policy had a dual focus: to relieve people of the burden of their debts and to create jobs, he stressed.
Mr Balog said: the Government takes the view that families can be reinforced from the incomes they earn. This is why the Government provides jobs, rather than benefits, and introduced the concept of support tied to conditions which encourages activity.
From among the family policy measures of previous years, the Minister spoke about the job protection action plan which, by his account, helped hundreds of thousands of mothers to more easily return to the realm of work after the birth of their children, and contributed to an increase in the employment of women which is currently at its peak, compared with the last few decades.
Mr Balog further mentioned the system of family tax benefits about which he said: it is clear that the flat tax regime is disadvantageous for families, and this is why there is a need for a “supplementary mechanism”.
He also spoke about the scholarship grants offered to disadvantaged students, the first family home benefit, the free meals introduced in crèches and kindergartens as of September, and the family allowance having been tied to school attendance.