As Deputy State Secretary for Youth and Sports Norbert Kiss said at a press conference held in the Ministry for National Economy, the Government has spent some HUF 620bn on youth programmes.

The more than 30 youth programmes which the Government helped fund in 2012 and 2013 include the Housing Programme with HUF 321bn, but more than HUF 10bn each was disbursed for the renovation of youth community facilities, among them for the modernizing of old youth culture centres, and for study assistance, Norbert Kiss added. The comprehensive youth support system, where young people may turn to either through the internet or the easily accessible network of service points, received funding of HUF 3bn.

Minister of State for Economic Regulation Kristóf Szatmáry pointed out that housing and jobs are among the preconditions required for retaining young people in their homeland. To this end, the Government had launched the Job Protection Action Plan designed to assist the employment of those below the age of 25 years which has paved the way for 22 thousand career-starters to enter the labour market and helped keep the jobs of more than 100 thousand young people. For this programme, the Government has allocated funding of several tens of billions of forints.

As of January, those having a valid student contract for at least one year are entitled to receive childcare allowance until their child turns one year old; in addition, programmes have been launched for funding start-ups established by Hungarian young people within the country and in the Carpathian Basin. The Government supports summer youth work projects by HUF 1.5bn a year, the Minister of State emphasised.

Kristóf Szatmáry pointed out that results are significant also from a European perspective: the youth unemployment rate has lately dropped by 4 percent to 24 percent in Hungary, whereas the respective indicator is almost double this figure in several European countries. Currently, the Minister of State added, 240 thousand people aged 15-25 years are in employment.

The latest data are also encouraging and they verify the Government’s job programme, he stressed, adding that for the long-term unemployed the very first step is to join the public employment scheme and after that to obtain a job on the labour market.

(Ministry for National Economy)