Hungary spent 620 billion forints (some 2 million euros) on the young generation within the framework of the National Youth Strategy in the 2012-13 period, the Ministry for National Economy and the Ministry for Human Resources said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Hungary spent 620 billion forints (some 2 million euros) on the young generation within the framework of the National Youth Strategy in the 2012-13 period, the Ministry for National Economy and the Ministry for Human Resources said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Deputy State Secretary for Youth and Sport Norbert Kiss said at a joint press conference that the Government had spent 3 billion forints (EUR 9.72 million) on developing services tailored for the young generation and one billion forints (EUR 3.24 million) a year on the international youth mobility programme “Youth Momentum”. He also said budget spending on rural youth was 13.6 billion forints (EUR 4.4 million) and almost 9.5 billion (EUR 3.17 million) on health-consciousness of the young generation.

Minister of State for Economic Regulation Kristóf Szatmáry said housing and workplaces are both important factors in keeping the young generation in the country. He said the Government had devised the Job Protection Action Plan for this purpose, and the Plan had been instrumental in finding first jobs for 22,000 people and preserving another 100,000 jobs. He said the additional Job Guarantee Program had created 16,000 jobs for the young generation and the state had also created 16,000 summer jobs at a cost of 1.5 billion forints (EUR 9.72 million).

Mr Szatmáry also said the Government is encouraging young people to start their own businesses and for that purpose new entrepreneurs under the age of 35 (or 40 for those with children under 6 years of age) are eligible to receive state grants of between 3 and 6 million forints (EUR 9,700-19,400). He also mentioned the initiative to support young Hungarian entrepreneurs in neighbouring countries of the Carpathian Basin. He said the Government had introduced a childcare support system on 1 January for students who will receive state support for a year after the child’s birth, adding that the Government also put in place a program to support new homeowners, from which 1,500 people have benefited so far.

Last year, youth unemployment in the 15-24 year age group – while on the rise in the European Union – fell by 3.3 percent in Hungary in the October-December 2013 period and 236,000 people in that age group have jobs, translating into an employment rate of 21 percent. He also said that 2013 was the first year in a decade in which the employment rate of women and young people successfully increased.

(Ministry of Human Resources)