Hungary


Population:

●      9,664,933 (current as of 2020) [1]

●      Infant mortality rate - 3.5 per 1,000 live birth [1]

Economy:

●      Export-oriented market economy, with heavy emphasis on foreign trade (35th largest export economy in world) [2]

●      Major labor shortage due to decrease in population

●      Between 2008-2018, a million Hungarians migrated to other countries [3]

Politics:

●      Strong emphasis on ethnic homogeneity

●      Orban has stoked fears that “Europe is no longer going to be populated by Europeans” [4]

Sources:

  1. Worldometer, based on latest elaborations of United Nations (UN) data

  2. Observatory of Economic Complexity, “Hungary”

  3. NPR, “Hungary Says It Will Offer Free Fertility Treatments to Counter Population Decline” (2020)

  4. The Guardian, "Viktor Orban trumpets Hungary’s ‘procreation, not immigration’ policy” (2019)

HEALTHCARE


Universal health care coverage

●      100% of population covered by tax-funded programs (8% of GDP). [1]

●      Budget constraints and limited range of available services however still pose challenges. [1]

Sources:

  1. OECD, Hungary: Country Health Profile 2019 

  ONGOING ISSUES


Underpopulation (low birth rates) [1]

Projected shortage in labor force (due to migration to other EU countries) [1]

Poverty [2]

Cardiovascular disease [3]

Sharp increase in housing costs [2]

Shortage of healthcare workers [4]

Sources:

  1. Hungarian Cultural Studies, “Problems of a Declining Hungarian Birth Rate” (2014)

  2. The Borgen Project, "10 Revealing Facts About Poverty in Hungary”

  3. Pediatric Research, “Infant Mortality and Ischemic Heart Disease in Hungary” (1999)

  4. InTech Open, “Current Characteristics of Hungarian Nurses’ Workforce” (2016)

 OBSERVED SOLUTIONS


Strong pro-natalist policies:

●      Since 2010, pro-natalist policies for families willing to have more children, including [1]:

■      Loan forgiveness

■      Tax breaks

■      Assistance with home-buying

●      Women with four or more children receive tax waivers in perpetuity. [2]

Digital innovation:

●      Aimed at decreasing poverty and related issues by increasing the number of lucrative jobs in the digital technology sector [3]

NGOs and volunteer community healthcare workers (CHW):

●      Feed the Children spearheading plan to combat malnutrition and reduce stigma around discussions of hunger [3]

●      Providing children and expecting mothers with [4]:

●      Vitamins

●     Medicine

●     Baby formula

●      Educating communities on symptom recognition and encouraging use of healthcare facilities/services [4]:

●      Previously used successfully to improve health assessment participation among Roma minority groups

Sources:

  1. About Hungary, “Making Family a Top Priority” (2016)

  2. NBC News, “Hungary axes income tax for women with 4 or more kids” (2019)

  3. Budapest Business Journal, “Fourth Industrial Revolution Aims to Transform Hungary’s Production” (2020)

  4. Budapest Beacon, “Hundreds of thousands of Hungarian children suffering from malnutrition” (2015)

  5. BMC Family Practice, “Health mediators as members of multidisciplinary group practice: lessons learned from a primary health care model programme in Hungary” (2020)

KEY QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION


How will population policies change if/when Orban leaves office?

After COVID-19, will high rates of migration persist?

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