System of family benefits in Hungary

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System of family benefits in Hungary

• Reunion on fertility and family and dependency
  policies
• 18th December 2008, Prague
• Zsófia Tóth, counsellor
• Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, Hungary

2
Main challenges the Hungarian family benefit
system has to face

• - population decreasing
• - first children come later
• - ageing societies
• The cost of childraising is growing is the
  family benefit system capable to compensate the
  income earned by parents on the labour market?
• Poverty of children - the intergenerational
  transmission of poverty has to be prevented

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Some data

• Total fertility rate 1,3
• Average life expectancy man 69,2 years
• woman 77,8 years
• The proportion of family benefits in the total
  income of families with children 14
• Employment rate of women (aged 15-64) 50,9 (EU
  average 58,3 )
• Employment rate of men (aged 15-64) 64 (EU
  average 72,5 )

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The structure of benefits dedicated to families

• family allowance
• maternity grant
• pregnancy confinement
• benefit
• child care fee child care
  benefits
• child care allowance
• child raising benefit
• family tax allowance
• regular child protection allowance

• E.g. regular social assistance, home maintenance
  assistance

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The situation before 2006

• Three main elements of the family benefits
• Family allowance universal system
• Family tax allowance
• Regular child protection benefit means tested
• Problem
• resources did not always reach the families who
  were in need
• Aim ensure a better targeting of the resources

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The situation after the reform

• The central element of the system is the
  universal famliy allowance, the amounts of which
  were almost doubled.
• Further reform in 2008 improving the targeting
  of family allowance the raise of the allowance
  of family types with the highest risk of poverty
  was higher
• Family tax allowance of families with one or two
  children had been ceased.
• In the place of regular child protection benefit
  the regular child protection allowance was
  intorduced, which consits of different benefits
  in kind (e.g. free meal) and a cash component.

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The amount of family allowance in 2008
8
The system of child care allowances
9
People receiving family benefits in 2007
9
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Challenges ahead

• Low birth rates
• Income position of families with children is
  worse than the average
• Reconciliation of work and family life is
  difficult
• Comprehensive approach is needed
• Let it better for the children! strategy for
  2007-2032
• Action programme for 2007-2010 e. g.
• - differentiated family allowance
• - improving kidergarten attendance cash benefit
• - eliminating the obstacles of returning to the
  labour market, at the same time ensuring the
  well-being of the child improving the
  accessibility of childcare facilities (the
  proportion if children aged 0-2 attended to
  creches is very low 8 )

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• Thank you for your attention!
• toth.zsofia_at_szmm.gov.hu