Hungary on Tuesday, April 29th, passed a law exempting women with two or three children from paying income tax as part of a drive to reverse population decline.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s conservative government has enacted several measures since 2010 that seek to boost the birth rate, including subsidised loans, housing allowances for families, and tax exemptions for women with four or more children.
Under the new law approved on Tuesday in parliament, mothers of two under the age of 40 will get lifetime income tax exemption from next year, with the benefits gradually expanded to all mothers of at least two by 2029.
Under the legislation, mothers of three will be exempted from paying income tax from this October.
In a speech in March, Orbán said:
We are creating the world’s first family-oriented economy. Mothers with one child will pay no income tax until the age of 30, and mothers with two or more children will pay no income tax for the rest of their lives. By any standards, this is a global sensation. This will secure the future of Hungarian families for decades to come.
The government has been one of a few in Europe to defend its borders against illegal migration since the start of the migration crisis in 2015. Budapest has declared that it does not want to import migrants to address the demographic decline like other European nations do, but seeks to increase the size of Hungary’s population with pro-family policies.
