Katalin Novák gave a lecture on demographic challenges to Australian students

President of Hungary Katalin Novák gave a lecture to students of Campion College in Sydney, Australia, on demographic challenges and Hungary’s pro-family policies. 

Katalin Novák said that Hungary’s spending on family support equals more than 6 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). She also spoke about housing support for families with children and the fact that mothers with four or more children are exempt from paying personal income tax for the rest of their lives. 

She emphasized that decisions to suspend or waive student loan debt are also intended to help young people start a family and have and raise children. For women with student loans, repayments are suspended for three years after the birth of the first child, half of the debt is waived for the second child, while the debt is waived altogether when the third child is born. 

Katalin Novák also said that in addition to financial support, it is also necessary to achieve a family-friendly turnaround in the general mind-set. She said that Hungarians are by nature family-oriented, but Hungary is also affected by efforts attempting to spread an anti-family ideology in society. The President underlined that, in her opinion, Hungarian people feel that even their children are exposed to these threats. 

Raising children is the right and responsibility of parents, said Katalin Novák. The President went on to say that Hungarians wish to hold on to their right to raise their own children. The President stressed that Hungary's Fundamental Law also states that the mother is a woman, the father a man. 

Katalin Novák encouraged the participants to dare to resist the anti-family mainstream, if they disagree with it. She also gave her own example, saying that reconciling family-life and a career is possible, and that women must be given the conditions to choose both motherhood and a career at the same time. 

Katalin Novák highlighted that the demographic ice age that threatens our societies is as significant a problem as climate change. The Head of State also recalled that she is gathering international allies to work together towards halting the demographic decline, in the framework of which she recently met Elon Musk. The two of them have even launched a series of questions on a community platform to better understand people's views on having children.