Ministerial Commissioner Piroska Szalai, responsible for improving the labour market prospects of women, said at a press conference in Budapest that employment growth registered among both men and women in 2013 is the result of a successful Job Protection Action Plan.

According to the latest data compiled by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), in the last quarter of 2013 the number of those in employment aged 15-64 years was 1 million 830 thousand, up from 1 million 790 thousand one year ago.

Piroska Szalai stressed that taking a closer look at age groups clearly reveals that in age groups targeted by the Plan the number of people in employment increased. As far as women are concerned, the most significant increase, 1.4 percent, was recorded among those aged 55-59 years as well as those aged 30-34 years, but the indicator also improved by 1.3 percent in the 50-54 and 25-29 years age brackets.

The largest improvement among men, 4.8 percent, was registered in the 60-64 years age bracket, while the indicator for those aged 55-59 and 20-24 years edged up by 3.6 percent each, Piroska Szalai emphasised.

She added that employment of those above the age of 55 years was significantly better for both men and women, as in light of November data employers utilized contribution allowances for 328 thousand employees, constituting two-thirds of total labour force belonging to this age bracket.

Among women, the indicator for those in the 25-34 years age bracket improved markedly, and most mothers with small children belong to this category. In November 2013, employers utilized contribution allowances for 32 600 employees with small children, and this segment alone could reduce labour costs by HUF 6.3bn in 2013. Employers applied contribution allowances for 132 thousand employees under the age of 25 years, which figure constitutes 61 percent of age group total, the Ministerial Commissioner said.

She pointed out that the current Government is the first one with a ministerial portfolio containing women’s employment as a separate field, and – unlike the previous governments – it has assisted women through innovative measures to take on a more efficient economic role.

Piroska Szalai said that prior to 2010 families’ and women’s perception of economic insecurity had been increasing. In the last year when the previous government was in office, in 2009, 49.9 percent of women aged 15-64 years were in employment and 44.5 percent were inactive. Thus, the previous government closed its term with the worst employment indicators in ten years.

She pointed out that while during the Gyurcsány administration women’s employment stagnated, it declined during the Bajnai-years, and Hungary’s gap with the rest of the European Union in this field has widened.

As of 2010, the Government intended to transform the labour market under the principle of “flexicurity”, as this was the only way to improve women’s employment, she added.

Speaking about the three most significant measures the Ministerial Commissioner said that first the Government adopted the new Labour Code in 2012, which provides a flexible labour market framework regulation, second they introduced the childcare allowance extra as of 2014, which allows mothers to return to work and still receive benefits. Third, she added, the Job Protection Action Plan was launched last year which provides contribution allowances as a special, active labour market instrument.

As far as the achievements of measures are concerned, Piroska Szalai stated that the employment rate of women aged 15-64 years jumped to a twenty-year record of 52.1 percent in 2012, and for the year 2013 further improvement is expected; according to calculations of the Ministry the indicator may increase to as much as 52.8 percent. The latest figure constitutes an increase of 2.9 percentage points since 2009, which puts Hungary to the third place in the EU ranking, behind only of Malta and Germany.

She also stressed that 2012 was the first year when the employment rate of women with children under the age of 6 years was up, from 33-34 percent to 36.1 percent, and thus Hungary has closed the gap with Slovakia.

(Ministry for National Economy)