Why So Many Hungarians Are Staying Child-Free

BUDAPEST -- In 2014, when she was 26, photographer Zsuzsanna Simon took a bold stand.

With pink lipstick, she wrote on her belly, "I will not give birth until there's a change in government." She then took two selfies.

Her protest turned into a series, with Simon taking photographs of other women, their bodies adorned with the same -- or similar -- phrase.

Ten years later, their actions are more relevant than ever, as more and more people in Hungary are choosing not to have children, despite -- or in some cases because of -- the pro-family policies of the ruling nationalist Fidesz party.

Speaking from her Budapest flat, Simon, who does not have children, says that she "wanted to do something radical."

"They were average women who wanted to stand up against the government in a way," she says of those who took part in her project.

Low Birth Rates

Like many other European countries, Hungary faces low birth rates and a declining population. In 2023, the number of live births in Hungary hit a historic low and the population shrunk by 15,000 people, according to data from Hungary's Central Statistics Office. Over the past decade, Hungary's population has fallen from around 10 million to 9.7 million.

Demographers are particularly interested in women over the age of 40, a cohort that provided insights into women being permanently child-free instead of just postponing parenthood. In that group, according to recently published results of Hungary's 2022 census, both the number and the proportion of child-free people are on the rise.

In power since 2010, Fidesz is trying to halt this population decline without relying on immigration, as other European countries have done. Speaking in a 2022 radio interview, the country's populist nationalist-conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has five children, said, "We want to leave the country to our own children, not to foreigners."

While in power, Fidesz has implemented family-friendly policies, including interest-free loans for married couples with children, housing subsidies, and tax exemptions for mothers with four or more children.

Experts say, however, that while these incentives have had a modest positive impact on fertility rates, they have not been enough to reverse the overall trend.

Feeling Like Second-Class Citizens

Rebecca Laura Racz, a 45-year-old journalist who has written a book on the child-free movement in Hungary, says that the community is growing but still relatively small, probably numbering in the thousands. From the people she has surveyed, Racz says that child-free people tend to live in cities and have high levels of education. She estimates that two-thirds of them are in long-term relationships.

Because of the government's family policies, Racz says that many child-free Hungarians feel like the government is treating them like second-class citizens. "They say they could only afford a loan, a car, or a flat, if they had a child," Racz says.

Rebecca Laura Racz has written a book on the child-free movement in Hungary.

The child-free movement has gained momentum recently on a global scale. Mounting economic pressure, environmental concerns, evolving societal norms, and an increasing focus on individual autonomy, have all driven this trend.

In Hungary, experts say that the key factor stopping people from having children is economic uncertainty.

Szandra Kramarics, a researcher in social politics, says that many young people are not convinced by the government's offers of financial assistance.

"The majority of [people I interviewed] said that they are reluctant to have children as they are unhappy with health care, education, and the lack of spaces in nurseries," she says. "And many [people] simply don't see a future here."

Changing Government Policies

According to demographer Balazs Kapitany, who spoke to RFE/RL's Hungarian Service in 2023, people's decision to have children is complicated by Orban's government changing its policies -- regularly implementing new measures and revoking others.

For instance, the government's popular Family Home Creation Discount (CSOK), a program that gave financial assistance to families to purchase, build, or expand homes, has now ended. It has been replaced by CSOK Plusz, a similar subsidy but with new rules, and Village CSOK, which is only applicable in certain rural areas and is tied to continuous employment.

"The couples will quickly realize that these measures will not be upheld by the government," Kapitany told RFE/RL. "And the new incentives will lose their effectiveness, as [people] don't count on them."

Many of Fidesz's new subsidies are tied to employment or age. "The government's goal isn't to support everyone," says Kramarics, who notes that the policies are selective and aimed at the middle class.

That's something that Tibi, who asked RFE/RL to withhold his last name, knows only too well. Tibi is a member of one of the many Hungarian Facebook groups for child-free people. He says that he and his partner decided at the beginning of their relationship that they wouldn't want to have children.

In 2023, live births in Hungary hit a historic low. (file photo)

When Tibi was buying property, he was shocked to see how high prices are, which many attribute to the effects of the subsidized mortgages given to families -- benefits which Tibi didn't qualify for.

"What Fidesz is calling a family policy is a financial trap, and families are becoming victims without realizing," Tibi says.

High Inflation

While there has been government financial support for families, recent years have seen record inflation, with an average rate of 17 percent for 2023.

"This inflation will not be compensated by the family-friendly tax exemptions," Tibi says.

Hungarian politicians, according to demographer Kapitany, expected too much from these family policies, in terms of a population bump.

"There is usually an effect, but it is small, unspectacular, and difficult to measure," the demographer said. "Decisions about having children are complicated and complex. People are not like machines, in which you throw a coin and get a hot chocolate."

Despite her photography project, Simon says it is not because of politics that she doesn't want to have children. But she says the Fidesz government has made it harder for her to get by from day to day.

Her art alone doesn't pay the bills, and she has had to take on commercial work, taking pictures at a steel plant. And changes to the freelance tax in 2022 have made her life more difficult, she says.

To have children, she says, she just wants to be in a "normal mental state.