Ministerial Commissioner Piroska Szalai, responsible for improving the labour market prospects of women, held a presentation at the conference entitled “Család” (Family) in Hungary’s Parliament which focused on issues related to the coordination of family and work. At the event, the Commissioner summarised the Government measures aimed at better family-work equilibrium and subsequent achievements.

The Government’s economic framework programme stated in 2010 that in Hungary a flexible, family-friendly labour market shall be established which would fit into the European Union’s “flexicurity” or flexible security concept.

In 2012, Hungary achieved a 20-year peak regarding women’s employment, as last year 58 thousand more women were in employment in comparison to the year preceding the change of Government. The relevant employment rate increased from 49.9 percent in 2009 to 52.1 percent last year, and thus Hungarian employment growth was the fourth highest within the EU.

Indicators which signal the strengths of Hungary include the fact that the share of women in employment with children above the age of 12 years exceeds by 4 percent the EU average or that the number of working mothers with children under the age of 6 years increased by 15 thousand year-on-year. The ratio of women in management posts edged up to 41 percent from 36 percent in 2009.

Piroska Szalai drew attention to the fact how important it is to provide opportunities for women who want to quickly return to their job after their child is born and for those who want to devote themselves solely to bringing up their children. It must be ensured that mothers with small children are not excluded from employment and that through more flexible and family-friendly employment forms the country can better utilize the labour force of women. Economic competitiveness will improve provided those who were formerly excluded from the labour market due to inflexible employment forms can return to work, she added.

The Ministerial Commissioner emphasised that over the past two years the Government has made significant steps to support women and families, and these are achieving practical results.

Among these, the first large-scale measure was the introduction – as of 2011 – of the family tax allowance for children which acknowledges the value of work related to bringing up children. This was followed by the new Labour Code which created a framework for the establishment of a more flexible and family-oriented labour market. In 2012 the most important step was the introduction of the Job Protection Action Plan, which provided the option of employer contribution allowance that facilitated the employment of mothers with small children. Under this scheme, employers were granted contribution allowances provided they employed people who have returned to the labour market over the past three years after the entitlement period for maternity benefits, childcare allowance or childcare benefits had ended. One woman out of five benefited from this measure.

The Ministerial Commissioner stressed that five offices for ministers of state within the Ministry for National Economy (and the National Health Insurance Fund) introduced and implemented measures which have obviously contributed to the improvement of women’s labour market prospects. She added that there is still much to do in this field, but the EU funds for the period 2014-2020 will also underpin this upward trend and the Ministry has been continuously working on the drafting of further provisions.

(Ministry for National Economy)