Married With Children

Throughout much of the world, the family is a disaster.

Fewer marriages, more divorces, more social problems, fewer children.

All of this is resulting in many countries welcoming illegal immigration, refugees, and others who don’t share the culture or values of their new countries.  These governments note that the birth rate is not sufficient to support the economies of the country without mass immigration.  Despite, the social , legal, and economic messes being created, policies to bring in more and more immigrants, especially into Europe, persist.

One country, however, has fought back.  An article titled The West Can Learn A Lot from Hungary’s Pro-Family Policies in the Catholic Herald notes that while many liberal democracies promote  policies that undermine the family and family values, Hungary is actively supporting families with policies to strengthen families.  These policies include large tax breaks, housing, and other benefits for families with more children.

According to the magazine, Hungary has seen “marriage rates increase by a whopping 43 per cent with their divorce rate dropping by 22.5 per cent. Unsurprisingly, with the increase in marriage, 33 per cent fewer women are having abortions today than they were eight years ago. Likewise the national birth rate is currently at its highest in 20 years.”

The article by CC Pecknold quotes Hungary’s Minister for the family, Katalin Novak:

“After we won the election in 2010 with a two-thirds majority, we decided to build a family-friendly country and to strengthen families raising children. We thought the opposition would be a partner in this, but since then there have been very few decisions in the field of family policy that they’ve supported. So if we had always taken the opposition’s opinion into account, Hungary would now be on the brink of collapse. There wouldn’t be such a comprehensive family-support system, a family-friendly tax system, a housing program, 800,000 new jobs, and many opportunities to create a balance between life and work. The socialists have driven our country into deep crisis before, and they would do it again. They’re only interested in grabbing power again; to achieve this goal, they’ve even joined forces with the Hungarian far right.”

Now a new law goes into effect on July 1 to further strengthen families .  It will reduce mortgages by up to 12,000 Euros for families that have three children.  And starting in 2020, “mothers with 4 or more children will enjoy a lifetime personal tax exemption.”

Hungary is following a Christian and nationalist model.  It does not welcome refugees and those without similar cultural values.  It’s conservative government is saving it, at least for a while, from the fate that liberal democracies in Europe are likely to experience.

A New York Times survey shows that young Americans would like to have more children.  The biggest reason for not doing so, cited by 64 percent, is that childcare is too expensive.

America should take a lesson from Hungary and find tax incentives and other motivations for working families that include a father and a mother and multiple children.  I’m not talking about the liberal policies that have ensured the breakup of the family model, especially among poor minorities, by simply throwing money at single mothers for each child they have, while encouraging the father to stay away.

We could all learn something from Hungary by promoting the family.  Both Europe and the USA have something to learn from Hungary.

The article from the Catholic Herald is here.

The article from the New York Times is here.