Number of Hungarian children born out of wedlock growing

In eighteen Hungarian towns, the number of children born out of wedlock is higher than of those whose parents are married, and the number of these births is growing everywhere in Hungary, writes Népszabadság, based on data collected by the Central Statistics Office (KSH). On the top of the list is Devecser, Veszprém County, (pop. 5,300) where parents of two out of three babies born in 2005 were not married.

Devecser Mayor László Holczinger said he was not happy that his town was leading this list. When asked whether mostly the Roma (Gypsy) population tend to have children out of wedlock, he said that it was true, however, local data show an increasing number of non-Roma residents also chose living in life partnership over getting married in recent years.

Devecser couples have different reasons for not getting married, and one of them is mothers receiving higher subsidy from the state if they are registered as single. Apart from other subsidies, these mothers are entitled to Ft 1,000 higher "family allowance" (családi pótlék) per child. Etelka Baráth, president of the local Roma government, said that for this reason, many mothers fill out a so-called "singlehood statement," while in reality they live together with the father of their children and other relatives.

Orosháza, Békés County, is another town where the number of children born out of wedlock is exceptionally high, nearly 40%. But Mihály Gervain, the director of the local hospital, tried to put a positive spin on the data. "These babies were at least born," he said, pointing out that 600 children are born in the two dozen villages that belong to the hospital in one year, while the number of abortions is nearly the same.

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