Taking steps to address the real existential threat.
Under Viktor Orbán’s new pro-family budget, married couples who have three children will eligible to receive 30,600 euros by the Hungarian government.
The government offer would come in the form of a 30,600 euro loan to couples upon their marriage. The loan would have to be repaid until the couple has three children. At that point, the debt would be forgiven, France’s Le Figaro newspaper reports.
In this month alone, approximately 2,400 Hungarian families have already signed up and applied for the loan which is paid out in monthly installments. In the case that the couple has a child within five years, the loan’s interest and scheduled repayments are both suspended for a period of three years.
To be eligible for the program, certain criteria must be met include: one person in the married couple will need to have paid 180 days’ worth of tax contributions to the state, the woman must be between 18 and 40 years old, and the marriage must be the first for at least one of the individuals involved.
Couples who fail to have their first child within five years, as well as those who divorce within the same time period, will be required to repay the full loan within just four months.
This newly announced program is part of a wider pro-family budget which was unveiled earlier in the year by Orbáns Fidesz government is designed to combat massive demographic declines without relying on replacement migration.
“Europe is at a crossroads. Western Europe seeks to address the problem of demography with simple solutions which only offer short-term success, but convey catastrophic consequences in the long run,” a Fidesz party spokesperson said.
The party spokesman continued, saying, “Hungary has a long-term approach and opts for the more difficult path, as a result of which, however, Europe could become an economically strong, rejuvenated continent. Either we encourage births by placing the interests of families in the focus of politics, or we encourage ever further flows of migration.”