Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1975 (3. évfolyam, 6-8. szám)
1975 / 6. szám
Childbirth services and benefits are the subject of many decrees, the most important of which is the law relating to social insurance. According to this 1955 decree, hospital treatment is free without a time limitation to workers and family members of workers with social insurance. If the mothers have attended at least three medical consultations during pregnancy, they receive a maternity and layette (clothing and equipment) benefit at the birth of each child. Employment The 1967 Labor Code stipulates that job preference be given to pregnant women and mothers of small children and makes it illegal to dismiss a female worker who becomes pregnant until the end of the sixth month after confinement. Additional labor legislation makes it illegal to employ a pregnant woman in a job detrimental to her health, or to require her to work overtime or at night until after her child is one year old. The Labor Code of 1962 grants working women a maternity leave of 20 weeks, four weeks of which may be taken before confinement. Working women who are breastfeeding are entitled to two 45-minute periods daily for this purpose for the first six months and one period daily for the next three months. Infant and Child Care Labor and social insurance laws guarantee assistance to working women and single parents of both sexes in caring for children under age seven, especially in the case of illness. A working mother is entitled to a maximum of 60 days of paid leave per year for sick care of a child aged 1-3 years and 30 days per year for a child aged 3-6 years. A single parent is entitled to 60 days of paid leave per year for sick care of a child aged 1-6 years.2 In most cases, “sick pay” ranges from 65 to 75 percent of the base salary. Leave without pay is given to a working mother or father who is raising a child without a spouse until the child is 14 years old. Mothers and single fathers also are 2 If the child is under one year, the paid leave for sick care is unrestricted. granted paid personal leave in the amount of one day per year for one child, five days for two children, and nine days for three children under age 14. In 1967, a child care allowance was introduced that grants working women a monthly allowance for each child up to age three, including adopted, step, and foster children, provided the woman has worked prior to confinement either (1) full time, or (2) for 12 months, or (3) a total of 12 months out of the previous 18, or (4) takes leave without pay to care for her child. Beginning in January 1974, the monthly allowance was 800 Ft for the first delivery, 900 Ft for the second delivery, and 1,000 Ft for the third or higher delivery. At the end of 1973, 195,000 women were on child care leave. Since the introduction of the child care allowance, births to working women as a percent of total births rose from 57.5 percent in 1967 to 79.0 percent in 1972. Family Allowance System Hungary has a long tradition of statesupported family allowances. In 1912 a family allowance for dependent children was paid to civil servants, and since that time eligibility has been extended to most categories of employed persons. The 1968 governmental decree lists the following groups as eligible for a family allowance of different amounts and under somewhat different conditions: employees on payroll, members of agricultural and fishing cooperatives, members of simple agricultural cooperatives, members of the armed forces, members of artisans’ cooperatives, home workers, old-age and disability pensioners, students on social scholarships, and apprentices in their last year. The following description of eligibility requirements applies to employees on payroll and to members of cooperatives, who together represent the majority of employed persons: Eligible workers are those on payroll covered by insurance, working at least half the time stipulated for their particular type of work, who have at least two dependent children—defined as children by blood, adopted, foster, stepchild, brother, sister, step11 brother, stepsister, and grandchild. Children must be under age 16 or under age 19 if attending a primary or secondary school or serving as apprentices of the first and second year, or under age 19 if physically or mentally disabled. The single worker (male or female) and the blind worker whose spouse is blind too are eligible éven if they have only one child. The definition of “single parent” is very broad and includes, basically, any person who is the sole means of support for a child, for whatever reason, plus in some instances persons whose spouse’s income is judged to be inadequate. If both parents work, only one of them receives a family allowance. In 1974, the following amounts were paid monthly to eligible workers and employees on payroll (members of agricultural cooperatives received somewhat smaller monthly payments) : for two children, 600 Ft; for three children, 960 Ft; for four children, 1,280 Ft; for five children, 1,600 Ft; for six children, 1,920 Ft. In 1972, 739,000 families with a total of 1.7 million children received a family allowance. Almost three-quarters of all children under age 16 were covered. Although the number of families with children under age 16 declined by approximately 15 percent between 1960 and 1972, the number of children covered rose by 21 percent. In 1970, 90 percent of all families having at least two children received a family allowance. Children’s Institutions There are three kinds of children’s day care institutions, whose aim is to help working mothers by providing health care, food, and education for their children at minimal cost: creches, for children under age three; kindergartens, for children over age three and under age six; and daytime homes connected to primary schools, for primary school pupils aged 6-14 years during that time of day when school is not in session. Fees for all three facilities are determined on the basis of the total monthly income of the parents and the number of children in the family. Preference is given to the children of working mothers. Although the capacity of I
