Hungary shows what effective family policy can look like
by Harry Benson, Marriage Foundation:
I recently interviewed Hungary families minister Katalin Novak to find out why their marriage rates have soared by 72% in just five years. Her answer is that Hungary has given clear financial incentives and public support for marriage since 2015. Contrast this with UK family policy that pays couples £250 to get married but £10,000 if they don’t.
Marriage rates are showing clear signs of levelling off across Europe. My analysis of Eurostat data shows that half of all European countries have seen marriage rates rise in the past five years and 40% have seen a rise over ten years.
However the standout performer is Hungary where the marriage rate in 1990 was up by 72% since 2014 – and number of weddings up by 69% – comfortably the highest rise in Europe, if not the world.
Hungary has not seen this number of weddings since 1990. Note also that the big increase in weddings has not led to a big rise in divorce. In fact the opposite has happened as divorce rates continue to fall for couples who married in 2015 or 2016.
By way of comparison, and leaving aside Cyprus where marriage rates were up by 41% over five years, the next highest rises among major European countries were +24% in Bulgaria, +19% in the Czech Republic and +18% in Austria. Marriage rates in the UK have barely budged since the mid-2000s.
So what is driving this rise?
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