Hungary Compelled to Reform
Hungary Compelled to Reform

Summary/Abstract: […] Two out of every five Hungarians live in polluted and noisy areas. By now a fifth of the population, two million people, suffer from allergies. Hungary’s use of renewable energy sources is a sixth of the average of the 25 EU member states. The proportion of Hungarians who enjoy higher and further education is one third of the EU average. In 23 EU countries half the population can speak English at a conversational level; in Hungary only 16 per cent can. The proportion of those who never use the Internet is 34 per cent in the 25 EU member states; in Hungary it is 57 per cent. And then there is the problem of old age. In Hungary there are over three million pensioners. All that the imagination of Hungarian politicians can come up with is to think of buying votes. If one side offers 13 monthly pension payments in a year, then the other promises 14. Meanwhile the country spends 50 per cent less on care for the elderly than the EU average. Men wait a year and a half, women a year, to get into a municipal-run home. Caring for the elderly falls mainly onto relatives, a new form of slave labour for those involved. Naturally, these are only examples, mere indications of what is needed for Hungarian society to catch up. […]

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