PRI President Praises New Plan to Exempt Large Families from Taxes
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is serious about reversing his nation’s declining numbers, and he wants to do it not through immigration, but by raising the birth rate.
His new “Family Protection Action Plan”, which he proposed in his annual State of the Nation address, will encourage couples to marry and have children. Women under 40 who are getting married for the first time will receive special low-interest government loans of up to 10 million Hungarian Forints ($35,230 USD). Most importantly, women with four or more children will be exempt from income taxes for their entire life.
The new proposal comes at a critical time for Hungary. According to EuroStat, as of 2016, Hungary’s total fertility rate stands at only 1.53 – far below the needed replacement level of 2.08.
“Hungarian fertility rates have been below replacement level for decades,” says Population Research Institute President Steven Mosher. “And its population has been shrinking since the 1980s. The Orban government hopes to turn this around, and quickly, by rewarding those who are generous in having children.”
“Orban’s policies are the most pro-family and pro-natal that any European country has ever adopted,” Mosher continued. “Let us hope, for the sake of the Hungarian nation, that they work.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has just announced similar plans, where more children equals fewer taxes, and mortgages are subsidized by the government.
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