Katalin Novák, state secretary for youth and family affairs, said the government’s family policy aims to protect traditional family values while giving young people “broad room for maneuver”.
“Some may consider [the policy] ultra-conservative,” the state secretary told the French-language Central European Newsletter, adding that it was “simply conservative, modern, maybe progressive even”.
According to MTI, when put to her that the fertility rate may have grown in Hungary but the birth rate had not, Novák said that having a child is a very personal decision. “Personal decisions have an impact on society and on the economy, and the government must speak up and act,” she said.
The state secretary added that the government offers financial help to families with children. The government is helping young mothers in terms of employment and the employment rate of Hungarian women is at a record high.
When asked about ruling Fidesz’s membership of the European People’s Party, Novák said that “if we leave the EPP, which is a possibility, we may form an alliance with democratic but not radical conservative parties”.
Photo credit: Magyar Nemzet