[Grem] *****SPAM(9.7)***** Financial Incentives to Form Families in HUNGARY Fails to Lift Birth Rate

[Emoke Greschik]

 Financial Incentives to Form Families in Hungary Fails to Lift Birth Rate
https://www.returntoorder.org/2025/03/financial-incentives-to-form-families-in-hungary-fails-to-lift-birth-rate/

Viktor Orbán is, perhaps, the most enigmatic character on the world scene.
Unquestionably, Hungary’s Prime Minister drives leftists to despair. He is
best known for his pro-family policies that rely heavily upon subsidies to
rebuild the structure of families. Many see these initiatives as a model
for the West in general.

However, despite massive funding and promotion, Mr. Orbán’s population
policy is not working as planned.

A recent article in Bloomberg
<https://www.yahoo.com/news/hungary-births-drop-record-blow-103047069.html?guccounter=2>
looked at the dire population situation in the Central European country.
Like many nations, Hungary faces a severe population decline and has for
decades. According to The World Bank
<https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Hungary/Fertility_rate/>, Hungary’s birth
rate
<https://www.returntoorder.org/2024/10/is-russias-declining-birth-rate-a-global-warning-sign/>
from 1960 to 2022 averaged 1.69, at one point dropping to 1.23. During that
time, only one year, 1975, saw it exceed the replacement rate of 2.1. As
yet, there is no exact 2024 figure, but Bloomberg says it was “below 1.4.”

The implications of such numbers are jaw-dropping. In countries that prize
cradle-to-grave benefits, such generational shrinkage means that a
decreasing number of taxpayers will end up supporting a larger number of
the elderly, which is economically unsustainable.

It is also unsustainable socially. As families shrink, increasing numbers
of children have neither aunts, uncles or cousins. Extended families are
social “safe spaces” where children can mature and make mistakes without
being discarded as they would be from friendships and childcare outside of
blood ties.

*Purely Economic Incentives*

To some extent, Mr. Orbán should be congratulated for at least looking at
the issue squarely. Unfortunately, his solution is largely economic. The
Hungarian Government’s official English-language website spells out some of
the details about Hungary.

“A family with three or more children may be eligible to receive up to 10
million HUF [Hungarian Forint, about $26,000 US] for a newly built home.”
Additionally, “couples having three or more children
<https://www.returntoorder.org/2025/02/trying-to-make-sense-out-of-our-childless-and-childish-age/>
may be eligible for a 25-year loan up to 10 million HUF at a fixed, 3
percent interest rate.” There are also significant breaks on Hungary’s
“Value Added Tax” (VAT).

In a country where the average Northern Hungarian home
<https://custommapposter.com/articles/how-much-does-a-house-in-hungary-cost/1781>
is 9.52 million HUF, this is, essentially, a free house. That is a
significant incentive to form families.

Yet it is not working. Hungary’s birthrate continues to fall. Mr. Orbán
understands the economic side of the issue, but the moral dimension is lost
on him.

*In-Vitro Fertilization*

Perhaps the best example of Mr. Orbán “playing fast and loose” with
traditional morality is his promotion of in-vitro fertilization (IVF). The
BBC <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51061499> described his takeover
of six private fertility clinics in December 2019. Starting on February 1,
2020, the government offered Hungarians IVF treatments at no cost.
According to a 2023 *Forbes*
<https://www.forbes.com/health/womens-health/how-much-does-ivf-cost/>
Magazine article, such treatments in U.S. clinics “can range from $15,000
to $30,000.

Usually, the process “harvests” eggs from infertile mothers. It then
fertilizes them using sperm cells from the woman’s husband (or another
man). Often, as many as a half dozen eggs are fertilized and frozen until
some are implanted in the woman. If the first implantation is successful,
the others are usually discarded. Since the disposed cells are also
fertilized, the process is, in effect, an abortion.

The Catholic Church strongly opposes such measures. The National Catholic
Bioethics Center
<https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e3ada1a6a2e8d6a131d1dcd/t/5eb9a41375cd202d4ca2c276/1589224467980/IVFPreachingPoints.pdf>
(NCBC) explains the Church’s position. “First, it goes against God’s plan
for the way children are to come into the world…. Second, some embryos,
some tiny human beings, are almost always killed through this procedure….
Third, it is common that more than one embryo will be placed in the uterus.
Often, only one baby is desired, and so the doctors will kill one or more
of the other babies…. Fourth, IVF
<https://www.returntoorder.org/2024/02/how-the-alabama-ivf-decision-elevates-the-pro-life-debate-and-causes-panic-among-pro-abortionists/>
treats children as though they were commodities to be produced for adult
needs.”

*The Moral Dimension*

The mechanics of the population decline are well known—contraception and
easily obtained abortions. Of course, these are only symptoms of a more
significant problem. Since World War II, humanity has been too selfish to
reproduce.

Such an attitude has profound moral consequences. God stated His first
command to humanity in the form of a blessing to “increase and multiply and
fill the earth.” (See Genesis 1:28.) Modern theologians argue whether the
blessing or the command is more critical, but disobeying the command or
refusing the blessing carries the same outcome. All human life is
diminished by humanity’s desire for sin, pleasures, money and luxury—all of
which overrule the biological imperative to reproduce. A free house is not
enough to overcome such attitudes. *Only God’s grace is sufficient.*

*Photo Credit:  © vadiml – stock.adobe.com
<https://stock.adobe.com/license-terms>*
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