The labour conditions and wages of Hungarian social workers improved significantly during the last government cycle, Minister of State for Social and Family Affairs Miklós Soltész said at a press conference on Monday.

Mr. Soltész said that when the current administration came to power in 2010, state support for municipalities was dwindling, leaving municipality-operated social institutions cash-starved; the lack of proper accounting meant nobody knew what benefits an individual was receiving and the buildings housing the social institutions were also unfit for proper functioning. He said the system was wasteful with the limited resources available.

The Minister of State said that despite the economic difficulties of the time, social support has not been reduced and now that the state has assumed their debts municipalities can function as real owners of their institutions and financing has also been gradually restructured.

He pointed out that this year social workers received a wage supplement of 6,000 to 17,000 forints (EUR 19 to 55) per month or 5.4 to 11.4 percent, depending on working years and qualifications. He said the wage supplement was effective retroactively from January 1 and was extended to include support staff as well as employees of institutions owned by churches or NGOs. 20,000 workers in the social and child protection sector had each received Erzsébet vouchers worth 54,000 forints, an unprecedented step.

He also said that social institutions had received 2,000 new, electrically operated beds and many institutions were beneficiaries of a modernisation program that cost 25-30 billion forints (EUR 80-96 million), in addition to which a comprehensive nursery development project had also been implemented at a cost of 28 billion forints (EUR 90 million).

Mr. Soltész said that, economic conditions permitting, the Government was committed to further wage increases within the social sector, adding that the Government was also working on a career model for social, child welfare and childcare workers, but it would take another few months to complete it, as the model was a long-term commitment that needed careful consideration.

(Ministry of Human Resources)