The authorities in Hungary are anxious to tackle problems caused by an ageing population and workforce. While one way of easing the situation would be to persuade more women to work, family-friendly employment is rare in Hungary and there is little part-time or flexible work. As a result, women find it difficult to return to work after starting a family and female employment rates are among the lowest in Europe. The government hopes its new labour code will address the issue.
Background
In 2011, the employment rate among women in Hungary was 7.9 % lower than the average across the EU27. Figures on employment and unemployment rates (in Hungarian) from the Central Statistical Office (KSH) show that just over 50% of women between the ages of 15 and 64 in Hungary have jobs compared to the EU27 rate of 58.5%. The women least likely to have jobs are those with low levels of education, those who are aged under 25 or over 55, and those who have children under the age of six.
The employment rate among women between the age of 40 and 49 with a university degree and with children above the age of 12 is around 75%. However, the employment rate among mothers whose youngest child is less than six years old was 34% in 2011, against an EU27 average of 58.9%.
Barriers to women returners
The most widely used solution in Europe to low levels of employment among women has been the promotion of part-time employment opportunities. This is something Hungarian regulators are also keen to try. However, there are a number of obstacles to the promotion of part-time employment for women with young children.
Firstly, there is a shortfall in the number of kindergarten and day nursery places in Hungary. The number of day nurseries in Hungary was 36,500 in 2012, about 2% less than is thought to be needed.
According to KSH data (in Hungarian), there were 374,870 available kindergarten places in the academic year 2011–2012. This was 33,000 more places than the number of children of kindergarten age, which stood at 341,190. The figures, however, are misleading, because the available places are not always in the districts or settlements where they are actually needed.
Further KSH data on nurseries and daycare (in Hungarian) show regional mismatches between the numbers of available kindergarten places and the numbers of children of kindergarten age.
Other problems include:
- kindergartens and nurseries having typically decreasing and inflexible opening hours;
- fees for childcare services not being compatible with salaries for part-time employment;
- maternity leave or social benefits that do not encourage part-time employment because they prolong the paid period of time spent at home with young children.
In contrast to many other countries, where parents often take their children to nurseries before the age of one, children in Hungarian nurseries generally start nursery at an age when they can already walk or even talk. This is not surprising, since maternity leave lasts almost half a year and most mothers continue to stay at home with their children.
Figures show that the number of children under the age of one in nurseries is negligible. Almost 10% of children in nurseries are aged between one and two, and more than 50% are aged between two and three.
Government policies
With effect from 1 January 2011, the Hungarian government increased the period of maternity leave from two years to three. It also stipulated that women on maternity leave with small children were only allowed to work part time, and no more than 30 hours per week. Their employers pay only 20% social security contributions instead of the 27% required for full-time workers.
A study, Expansion of day care for young children: goals tools and social implications (in Hungarian, 223 KB PDF), shows that primarily mothers use the permitted childcare leave and spend most of it at home with their children. Only 9% of parents use childcare facilities before their child has reached the age of three.
Distribution of employment
In Hungary, full-time employment is dominated by men, who make up almost two-thirds of all employees. The share of women in part-time work is almost 80%. More than 80% of part-time workers are employed in the service sector.
Part-time work has become one of the most flexible forms of employment. Its length and schedule can be changed on a daily or weekly basis, and it can be combined with full-time work in different ways.
There was no legislation in Hungary before 2010 to guarantee employees with young children the individual right to part-time work.
Since 2010, however, the government’s economic policy as well as company policy has begun to focus increasingly on part-time work. The changes came within the framework of work–life balance and childcare concerns. Act CXXVI/2009, which came into force on 1 January 2010, made it easier for people to be offered part-time work in the public sector if they returned to work while their children were under the age of three. This regulation was in line with regulations in more economically developed countries, and is a step towards more commonly used part-time employment.
With the adoption of the new labour code in 2012 (HU1211011I), it became possible for employees in the private sector to request part-time work while their children were under the age of three.
Another important precondition of the more widespread use of part-time employment is that the income from part-time work exceeds any available social security benefits for parents to make it an attractive alternative to staying at home with young children.
Other measures
A broader expansion of new forms of employment, such as distance work and flexible working time, could improve the situation further.
Measures have been brought in by Hungary’s Social Renewal Operational Programme (TÁMOP) to promote work–life balance initiatives. Funding of HUF 10.4 billion (€35.8 million as at 18 July 2013) is in place, and HUF 8 billion (€27.2 million) of it has already been made available for tender applications.
The money is there to support the creation of family daycare homes and other flexibly organised regular childcare services for children under the age of three.
The fund will help with the creation of new services, with money for premises, equipment and furniture, and to cover related set-up costs. The programme also supports the training of nursing staff, which may contribute to further job creation.
Family daycare homes have rapidly developed in the past five or six years. While in 2005 there were hardly more than 1,500 users of such services, by 2012 there were over 16,000 users, according to KSH data (in Hungarian).
Flexible working
The new labour code also supports the spread of more flexible forms of employment. As well as the introduction of flexible employment, it includes workplace initiatives such as the flexible approach to human resource policy or work organisation. The Hungarian Family Friendly Working Group report, The New Baby Boom (in Hungarian, 7 MB PDF), says that working hours that take the personal circumstances and needs of individuals into consideration are also to be encouraged.
Commentary
Beyond the government programme, the role of employers is important. Much will also depend on how applicants make use of the possibilities offered by the government money allocated to the improvement of childcare provision. Another important factor is whether more flexible forms of employment and better – not necessarily time-proportional – wages and salaries are introduced.
Máté Illés, Solution4.org