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25. SOCIAL CARE PROTECTION

ESSPROS – European System of Integrated Social Protection

Comprises the statistical data of EU member states' social protection systems. Expenditure and receipts of social protection are collected according to the standard methodology for international comparison.

Social protection: encompasses all interventions of public or private bodies intended to relieve households and individuals of the burden of a defined set of risks or needs, provided that there is neither a simultaneous reciprocal nor an individual arrangement involved.

Expenditure of social protection schemes: is classified by type, which indicates the nature of, or reason for the expenditure. The ESSPROS distinguishes four main categories of expenditure:
1. social benefits are resources, which are provided to beneficiaries in the form of cash or goods and services;
2. administration costs;
3. transfers to other schemes;
4. other expenditure.

Social benefits: consist of transfers in cash or in kind by social protection schemes to households and individuals to relieve them of the burden of a defined set of risks or needs. Social benefits are classified by function and by type. The function of a social benefit refers to the primary purpose for which social benefit is provided, irrespective of legislative or institutional provisions. Defined risks or needs of persons or households in the ESSPROS:
1. sickness/health care;
2. disability;
3. old age;
4. survivors;
5. family/children;
6. unemployment;
7. housing;
8. social exclusion not elsewhere classified.

The type of benefit refers to the form in which the protection is provided. General classification of social benefits by main type: cash benefits, periodic, lump sum payments and benefits in kind.

Purchasing Power Standard (PPS): shall mean the artificial common reference currency unit used in the European Union to express the volume of economic aggregates for the purpose of spatial comparisons in such a way that price level differences between countries are eliminated. 1 PPS thus buys the same given volume of goods and services in all countries, whereas different amounts of national currency units are needed to buy this same volume of goods and services in individual countries, depending on the price level.

Early estimation: estimation of ESSPROS main aggregates of expenditures by function in October after the reference year, estimation provided by the Grant project on improvement of ESSPROS data collection funded by the European Union. It is compiled and published 5 months earlier the annual regular ESSPROS publication and is therefore based on a different methodology.

Source of methodology: Eurostat, ESSPROS Manual 2019.


Family benefits

Average number: quotient of the number of benefit days during the period and number of calendar days in the period.

Number of recipients: number of persons claiming benefit for at least one day during the period.

Infant care benefit: before 2015 this provision was called pregnancy and confinement benefit. The mother is eligible for that wage-depending and insurance-based provision for the period corresponding to that of maternity leave (168 days) if she had been insured for at least 365 days during the two years preceding birth and gives birth during the period insured or within 42 days following the cessation of insurance or beyond the 42 days while receiving accident sick-pay or within 28 days after that payment.

Maternity allowance: any woman, who participates at least four pregnancy counselling sessions (concerning premature birth one session is required) is eligible for maternity allowance.

Child care benefit (gyed): it is a wage-depending provision due to an insured parent from the day following the expiry of the period of eligibility for infant care benefit (168 days) up to the child's 2nd birthday, if the parent was insured for at least 365 days during the two years before the birth. In case of twins the period of eligibility shall be extended by one year. A full-time student of an institution of higher education can be entitled to the so-called "graduate gyed" in respect of her child who was born following 31 December 2013, up to the child's 2nd birthday. Under certain conditions child care benefit is payable to the grandparent or the foster parent. Child care benefit was abolished in 1996, and relaunched on 1 January 2000.

Child care allowance (gyes): a fixed amount provision provided on a universal basis, due to a parent, foster parent or guardian raising the child in her/his own household, up to the child's 3rd birthday (in case of twins up to the end of the year they reach the compulsory school age) or up to the 10th birthday of the child who is chronically sick or physically or mentally disabled. In addition, a grandparent is entitled to child care allowance, too, if the child reached 1 year of age, is taken care of in the parent's household and the parents declared in writing that they renounced child care allowance on the grandparent's behalf.

Child raising support (gyet): a fixed-amount provision provided on a universal basis, to which a parent, foster parent or guardian rearing three or more minor children in her/his own household is entitled. The support is due from the 3rd to the 8th birthday of the youngest child.

Family allowance: a provision granted by the state monthly to promote the upbringing and schooling of the child. From 30 August 2010 it is granted in two forms: as child care assistance benefit for non-school-age children and for chronically sick or severely disabled children who are over the age of 18 years and do not attend school and as schooling support for children in the compulsory school age, for children who are over it but still studying in the public educational system up to their age of 20 years, for children with special education needs up to their age of 23 years. Increased amount of family allowance: It is paid on persons who are chronically sick or severely disabled.

Source of data: National Health Insurance Fund Administration (NHIFA), Hungarian State Treasury (HST), Central Administration of National Pension Insurance (CANPI), Ministry of Human Capacities (MHC), Hungarian State Treasury (HST).

Family assistance and child welfare provision

Basic child welfare provision: in case of these provisions, the parental custody remains in each case. Types: child welfare services, infant nursery (until 2016), family day care (until 2016), child minding at home (until 2016), children's day care (from 2017), Sure Start children's centres, study halls, substitute parent, placement in temporary home for children or families.

The Child Protection Act changed on 1 January 2017, due to which day care and child minding services ceased. Nevertheless, new forms of care emerged, such as infant nurseries, mini infant nurseries, family infant nurseries and workplace infant nurseries, as well as day care of children.

Infant nursery (until 2016): day-care institution providing professional care and education for children under three years of age and living in families. A child over three years of age whose level of physical or mental development is not sufficient for nursery education may remain in infant nursery care until 31 August following his or her fourth birthday. Children with special educational needs may attend the nursery service until 31th of August of the year they reach the age of 6.

Family day care (until 2016): provides day-time supervision care, education, food and activities for children in accordance with their age living in families. Data include 98–99 percent of all out of school care institutions.

Children's day care (from 2017): institutions providing professional day care and education for children living in families, corresponding to their age. Types of day care institutions: infant nursery, mini infant nursery, workplace infant nursery, family infant nursery, day care for children and alternative day care.

Infant nursery: institutions operating from 1 January 2017, which provides daytime care for children under the national basic program of nursery care by a qualified person. It provides care and education in several groups.

Mini infant nursery: institutions operating from 1 January 2017, which provides daytime care for children under the national basic program of nursery care by a qualified person. It provides professional care and education in smaller groups, with simpler personal material and operational conditions.

Workplace infant nursery: institutions operating from 1 January 2017, which provides daytime care for children. The service provided by the employer or by the maintainer under an agreement with the employer, in particular to provide nursery care for the employers' children.

Family infant nursery: institutions operating from 1 January 2017, which provides daytime care for children. The service provided by a nurse his / her own home or in any other specially designed room.

Day care for children: service operating from 1 January 2017. The service provider maintain age-related day care for children not receiving infant nursery or kindergarten services; excluded from compulsory kindergarten education; for children in kindergarten apart from the time of compulsory attendance of kindergarten, for a private student; and for students receiving school education apart from the compulsory teaching and other activities as well as teaching breaks, and also for child who has been released from other occupations organized in the primary school before 4 a.m.

Sure Start children's centre: the aim of a Sure Start children's centre is to help the social inclusion of both socio-culturally disadvantaged pre-school aged children and their parents by providing preventive services. Services support healthy development of children, compensate developmental delay, and strengthen parental competencies.

Study hall: an innovative disadvantage compensation initiative run by a civil or church organisation, based on local characteristics and on the voluntary participation and individual needs of children and young people, which operates a community area used autonomously by the study hall maintainer. A study hall provides complex services that take into account the whole of personality development, which are narrowly or not available at all to children and young people who are less successful in the public education system and are on the social periphery.

Family assistance service (until 2015): basic benefit for persons or families that are endangered or in crisis owing to social or mental health problems.

Recipients of family assistance service (until 2015): family assistance services may be used through personal contact. Provided services – on the request of the applicant as well as his/her legal representative – may be used in a voluntary and cost free way.

Child welfare service (until 2015): a service performing child welfare tasks. Its types are: independent child welfare service provider, child welfare service, child welfare centre.

Recipients of child welfare services(until 2015): persons who take services to solve social, mental hygiene, life style or financial problems. Services are voluntary and free of charge on the request of the applicant or his/her guardian. Recipients: persons receiving social basic care based on care plan, who are placed under child protection and who receive after-care. From 2010 data include children in professional care provision too. Data do not include minors receiving special care. Every child is registered once, either according to the status on 31 December or, if the care was finished during the year, the child is registered by the status of the last form of care.

According to Act XXXI of 1997 on Child Protection, as amended on 1 January 2016, child welfare services and family assistance, the latter previously administered through Act III of 1993 on Social Administration and Social Benefits, have been merged as family and child welfare services, with a new organisational structure and assignment of tasks. The content of the services, the forms and opportunities to access them and consequently the manner in which the data are provided have changed fundamentally, therefore the comparison of time series data is not possible.

Family and child welfare service: from the year 2016 family assistance and child welfare service provision were integrated and the tasks are provided by only Family and Child Welfare Services or Family and Child Welfare Centres. The Family and Child Welfare Service provides the general tasks of family assistance and child welfare services, that operates are covered by the local authorities.

Family and child welfare centre: from the year 2016 Family and Child Welfare Centre is a child welfare service operating in the district seats. In addition to the general service tasks of the family and child welfare service, the Family and Child Welfare Centre provides special services and programs, performs activities related to authority measures and provides professional support to child welfare services in the area of care.

Child receiving short-term care: a child in full care (temporary home for children, substitute parent or together with a parent in a temporary home for families) at the request or consent of the parent exercising parental supervision or other legal representative. The period of care may be up to a maximum of 12 months.

Substitute parent: a substitute parent shall provide temporary care in his or her own home for children living in families. The substitute parent may provide care for maximum 4 children at the same time including his or her own children.

Temporary home for children: it provides care for the child living in his or her family, however, staying temporarily without provision and supervision, or would stay lacking such provision and supervision without such placement, as well as for the child whose provision is endangered due to difficulties arising from the way of living of the family. One institution provides total care for a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 40 children.

Temporary home for families: upon the request of a parent who lost his or her home, the child and his or her parent may be placed together in a temporary home for families, if without such placement their accommodation was not ensured and the child had to be separated from his or her parent because of this. One institution provides care for a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 40 children and adults together. From 1 January 2018, temporary homes for families can be extended with external accommodation.

Guardianship authority, child protection

Taking the child under protection: if parent is not able or does not want to eliminate endangerment of the child through the optinal use of basic provisions, however, it is presumable that, with assistance, development of the child within a family environment may be ensured, the notary of the local goverment or the guardian's offices shall take the child under protection. Until 2012 give the data the notary the local government, from 2013 the guardian's offices. Until 2012 give the data the notary the local government, from 2013 the guardian's offices.

Minors under guardinaship: children not supervised by parents, and for whom the Public Guardianship Authority assigned a guardian. The concept includes also minors living in children's homes, in another family of with a third person.

Persons under truesteeship: persons with incapacity or limited capacity placed under interdiction by court.

Setting up home: fincancial support which aims to facilitate temporary or permanent housing of young persons leaving short-term or long-term foster care.

Professional child protection provision: home-like provision for the child temporaly placment or taken into care, after care provision for the young adult and full provision for the child requiring professional provision for other reasons should be ensured in the framework of professional child protection provisions. Provisions can be provided in a children's home, with a foster parent or in an institution providing nursing or care.

Minor: a person who has not passed his or her 18th birthday, except married persons.

After-care provision: this provision may be ordered at the request of a young adult who was previously under child protection if he is unable to provide for himself, is in full-time education or is waiting for admission to a social residential institution. After-care provision can be required up to the age of 25. After-care provision shall be provided by foster parents, children's homes, after-care homes and in outside places (especially sublets) maintained by the afore-mentioned institutions or by the competent district professional child protective services.

Person with special education needs: a person who is pronounced as disabled or with learning difficulty by the committees of experts and rehabilitation.

Social benefits

Regular social assistance: it was provided by local government for persons who have no income in order to guarantee them a minimum standard of living until 28 February 2015. Before 1 July 2006 a person of active age who had lost at least 67% of his or her working ability or received personal annuity for the blind was entitled to regular social assistance. It was also awarded to claimants, who were of active age but not employed if their subsistence needs were not met by other means. Entitlement and the amount of assistance were established on the basis of per capita monthly family income. Since 1 July 2006 only one person in a family could receive regular social assistance; entitlement and the amount of support are established on the basis of per consumer unit monthly family income. Consumer unit is the rate which shows the structure of consumption within a family. Consumer unit for the first major member of the family and disabled children is 1.0 each, it is 0.9 for the companion (spouse), 0.8 for the first and second healthy (not disabled) children each and 0.7 for any other children each. If a major person is disabled his or her consumer unit is increased by 0.2. As a result, the amount of support was calculated as the difference between the upper limit of the support defined in the Act on Social Administration and Social Benefits and the total monthly income of the family.

In 2009 the social support system changed significantly. Active age benefit was introduced this year. It was granted to claimants of active age who faced disadvantages in the labour market and to their families, if they could not make their own living – which means that claimants lived in a family where per-consumer-unit monthly income did not exceed 90% of the minimum old-age pension – and had no wealth. Until 28 February 2015 under active age benefit persons in need could receive, according to their age, health conditions and working ability, either regular social assistance or employment substitution support (availability support and wage replacement allowance before). Until 28 February 2015 persons eligible for active age benefit, whose health deteriorated or within five years to retirement or incapable of ensuring day-time institutional care for their children under the age of 14 received regular social assistance. Between 1 January 2010 and 28 February 2015 local government as well provided regular social assistance under the principle of equity for persons eligible for active age benefit.

Health impairment or full-time parenting benefit: regular social assistance was terminated on 28 February 2015 and it was replaced with health impairment or full-time parenting benefit under stricter rules for eligibility. The new social benefit is provided to persons entitled to active age benefit and suffer from serious health impairment or incapable of ensuring day-time institutional care for their children under the age of 14. The payment of benefit is suspended for the period when the person entitled to benefit is employed in the private or public sector. The monthly amount of the health impairment or full-time parenting benefit is the difference between the family income threshold and the total monthly income of the beneficiary's family, but may not exceed 90% of the net public employment wage.

Employment substitution support: until 28 February 2015 a person who was eligible for active age benefit but not eligible for regular social assistance received employment substitution support. It was called availability support in 2009 and 2010, and wage replacement allowance from 1 January to 31 August 2011. Because of public purpose works of the recipients in 2009 and 2010 average monthly amount per capita was calculated on a 9-month basis – instead of a 12-month basis. (According to Act III of 1993 on Social Administration and Social Benefits the minimum period of public purpose works was 90 days and persons eligible for support received wage instead of support for the period when they were employed as a public purpose worker.) Since 1 January 2011 the institution of public purpose work ceased to exist, therefore starting with 2011 average monthly amount per capita is calculated on a 12-month basis. In order to maintain comparability data of 2009 and 2010 have been modified accordingly and retrospectively. Since 1 March 2015 employment substitution support has been due to persons eligible for active age benefit but not eligible for health impairment or full-time parenting benefit. The payment of benefit is suspended for the period when the person entitled to benefit is employed in the private or public sector. The monthly benefit is 80% of the minimum amount of the old-age pension: HUF 22,800.

Regular child protection benefit: the aim of the benefit was to prevent the necessity of a child's removal from the family. The elected assembly of a local government provided benefit for a child, who lived in a family, whose per capita monthly income did not exceed the amount of minimum old-age pension if it was not against the child's interest to stay in the family. Regular child protection benefit became part of family allowance in 2006. Entitlement to benefit in kind, related to regular child protection benefit continues to exist (free dining, free school-books) but the name of support changed to regular child protection allowance in 2006. Until 2011 children entitled to this allowance received HUF 5,800 in cash twice a year (in August and November). Since 1 October 2012 regular child protection allowance was provided for recipients in kind (in the form of Erzsébet-voucher, which could be used exclusively to buy ready-to-eat food, clothes and school equipment). From 2019 the allowance is given in cash again, the number of payments in a year did not change, but the amount increased, depending on the need, it can be given in the basic amount of HUF 6,000 or in the increased amount of HUF 6,500. From 2022, the per capita income threshold for eligibility has increased.

Benefit in cash provided to recipients of regular child protection allowance: complementary child protection benefit till 2013, it was introduced in 2006 as a contribution to the living of the socially deprived children receiving regular child protection allowance, who live with and under the guardianship of their old aged (retired) relative with low income. Its monthly amount is 22% of the minimum old-age pension (HUF 6,270 in 2013), supplemented with an extra allowance of HUF 8,400 twice a year. Between 2006 and 2008 average monthly amount per capita was calculated on a 12-month basis, while since 2009 it is calculated on a 14-month basis because of the extra allowance. In order to maintain comparability data of 2006, 2007 and 2008 have been modified retrospectively. Complementary child protection benefit was integrated into regular child protection benefit and it became its special component on 1 April 2013.

Nursing allowance: financial contribution to a major relative who nurses at home a person requiring long-term care. From September 2005 those who nurse disabled persons needed increased nursing receive a higher amount of nursing allowance, its amount is 30 per cent higher than the normal nursing allowance. A new category was introduced for persons nursing relatives requiring special nursing on 1 January 2014. Until 28 February 2015 a local government could provide nursing allowance under the principle of equity also to a person who nursed a permanently sick relative of full age. From 1 January 2019 a part of recipients became entitled for child home care allowance. The basic amount of the nursing allowance is determined by the Final Act on Budget in force, the increased amount is 150% of the basic amount and the high amount is 180%.

Child home care allowance: the allowance was introduced on 1 January 2019. It can be provided to parents caring for their child unable for self-care due to serious disability or to chronic illness, regardless of the child's age. The amount of the benefit is set by law each year for carers of one child. If two children are cared for, 150% of the fixed amount is paid.

Old age allowance: financial support for elderly people who do not have income sufficient to ensure their own subsistence. Until 31 December 2005 the old age allowance is payable by local government to a person who is over the applicable retirement age and neither his own monthly income nor the per capita monthly income calculated by taking his own together with that of his spouse exceed 80 per cent of the current minimum old-age pension or 95 per cent in the case of a person living alone. From 1 January 2006 the amount of this allowance is differentiated by the law according to the marital status and age. Higher amount of old age allowance is provided for persons at 75 years of age and over and living alone, if the person's total income is below the threshold set by the legislation in force.

Public medical treatment service: a person in need may be issued a public medical card to reduce his or her expenses relating to maintaining or restoring health. The holder of a public medical card is entitled to receive free of charge certain medicines, medical services and treatments that are covered by social security. Since 1 July 2006 the amount of financial support for medicine per person is limited to HUF 12,000 per month. A local government could determine eligibility for the service on the principal of equity, too, until 28 February 2015.

Temporary assistance: the local government provided emergency financial support to persons till 2013, whose subsistence were endangered by extreme conditions or who were contending with temporary or permanent subsistence difficulties. Temporary assistance could also be provided in the form of non-bank interest-free credit; irregularly or on a monthly basis. The principal target group of the assistance were persons unable to ensure subsistence for themselves or their families otherwise or needed financial assistance because of occasional extra expenses, particularly expenses related to sickness or natural catastrophe.

Home maintenance support: the local government could provide benefit to a family or person till 2014 whose conditions corresponded to law (normative support), who were on debt attendance support, or corresponded to the local government's decree (local home maintenance support) for regular expenses of housing. Normative support was payable to a person or a family whose per capita monthly income was less than 150% of the current minimum old-age pension if the home running expenses were more than 20 per cent of the total income of the household.

Debt Management Service: support in kind till 2014 for those people, who had difficulties in financing their home maintenance expenses and they were in debt (public utility bills, bank loans). There were two parts of the service: debt reducing assistance and debt management guidance. The assistance was provided by the local government if claimants' income and housing conditions meeted the criteria specified by the local government decree, they were ready to pay their remaining debt and take part in debt management guidance during the period of program.

Extraordinary child protection benefit: the local government provided extraordinary child protection benefit, of which amount was defined in local government decree, for a child who lived in a family contending with temporary subsistence difficulties or whose subsistence was endangered by extreme circumstances.

Funeral support: the local government could provide funeral support till 2013 to a person who arranged the funeral for a deceased person despite not being obliged to do so, or who was a relative and obliged to do so but bearing the funeral expenses endangered his or her own or family's subsistence.

Local temporary assistance: the elected assembly of a local government provided emergency financial support between 1 January 2014 and 28 February 2015 to persons whose subsistence was endangered by extreme conditions or who were contending with temporary or permanent subsistence difficulties. Local temporary assistance could be provided in the form of non-bank interest-free loan; irregularly or on a monthly basis. It was principally given to persons who were unable to meet their subsistence needs or in need of financial support because of occasional extra expenses or the disadvantaged situation of their children.

Local social benefit: in 2015, the system of social benefits in cash and in kind was restructured, with the separation of central and local governemnt benefits. As of 1 March 2015, the elected assembly of a local government is obliged to provide local social benefit (Article 45 of the Social Act) to persons in an exceptional living situation threatening their subsistence, and to persons who are temporarily or permanently in need of subsistence, in addition to the benefits provided under the provisions of the Social Act, on the basis of conditions defined in a local government decree. The determination of the existence of a situation threatening the subsistence of the person concerned is a matter for the local authority, as is the determination of the amount and conditions of eligibility for benefit in such situations. Local social benefit may be provided especially to meet regular housing expenses, for people nursing or caring a chronically sick relative aged at least 18 years, to meet medical expenses and for people accumulating arrears of housing expenses.

Disability support: financial support for severely disabled persons over the age of 18, who are unable to care for themselves or need permanent assistance from others.

Source of Methodology: Yearbook of welfare statistics 2021 (KSH, Budapest, 2022).

Basic social services and day care

Basic social services: by organising the basic social services, local governments assist socially disadvantaged persons to maintain an independent life in their own home or dwelling, as well as to resolve problems arising from their health or mental condition or for some other reason.

Social catering: basic social service involving provision of at least one hot meal daily for persons in social need who are permanently or temporarily unable to provide this for themselves or their dependants.

Domestic care: basic social service provided to persons being unable to care for themselves in their home as well as to psychiatric patients, disabled persons and addicts who, due to their condition, need help in performing the tasks necessary for independent life.

Alarm system-based home assistance: basic social service provided to persons living in their own homes and needing such assistance due to their health and social conditions, in order to overcome arising crisis situations.

Support service: basic social service, its purpose is to care for disabled persons in their residential environments, primarily to help them access public services outside their homes, to maintain the independence of their lives, as well as to provide special assistance within their homes.

Community care for psychiatric patients: basic social service, its purpose is to care for psychiatric patients in their residential environment and to promote their recovery and rehabilitation.

Community care for addicts: basic social service, its purpose is to care for addicts in their residential environment and to promote their recovery and rehabilitation.

Street social work: the position and living conditions of homeless people living in the street must be monitored, care services must be initiated if required, and measures must be taken to assure such care provision.

Village and homestead caretaker services: basic social service, their purpose is to alleviate is disadvantages of small villages and of inhabited places in outlying areas arising from absence of insstitotions, i.e. to ensure access to services satisfying basic needs as well as to public and certain basic services. Village caretaker service can be run in settlements with a population of below 600 inhabitans and homestead caretaker service inner or outlying areas inhabited places with a population of between 70 and 400 inhabitants.

Day care institutions: institutions ensuring daytime shelter, catering, social relations and meeting basic hygiencic needs for people living in their own home or for homeless people. Several types of care can be provided in one institution.

Club for the elderly: it enables elderly people partly capable of looking after themselves, in need of social and mental support and mainly living in their own home to find daytime shelter, maintain social relations, satisfy basic hygienic needs and get daytime meals upon request.

Day home for disabled people: it enables disabled or autistic people over 3 years of age, partly capable or incapable of looking after themselves but in need of supervision, and mainly living in their own home to find daytime shelter, maintain social relations, get daytime meals and satisfy basic hygienic needs upon request.

Day home for addicts: it enables addicts over 18 years of age, mainly living in their own home, to find daytime shelter, maintain social relations, get daytime meals and satisfy basic hygienic needs upon request.

Day home for psychiatric patients: it enables psychiatric patients over 18 years of age, mainly living in their own home, to find daytime shelter, maintain social relations, get daytime meals and satisfy basic hygienic needs upon request.

Day-shelter: it enables homeless people to maintain social relations, take a rest, satisfy basic hygienic needs and get daytime meals.

Soup kitchen: it provides at least one hot meal per day to homeless people and people in social need who do not benefit other types of catering. Average daily admissions include portions served not only for homeless people but also for people in social need.

Approved places: number of places in the operating permit of the social institution.

Social care with accommodation

Long-term residential social institution: institutions providing continuous care on a permanent basis, day and night accommodation, nursing, care or rehabilitation for people who are in need of social support.

Home for the elderly: long-term social institution providing nursing and care for persons over retirement age who do not require regular hospital treatment. Persons over 18 years of age who, owing to illness, are unable to look after themselves are also eligible for admittance to homes for the aged.

Home for disabled persons: long-term social institution providing nursing, care or/and rehabilitation for disabled persons who can only be cared for, educated, trained and employed within institutions. Young people and adults must be cared for separately in such homes.

Home for psychiatric patients: long-term social institution providing nursing, care or/and rehabilitation for psychiatric patients who are not in a condition representing a danger, do not require regular hospital treatment, and are unable to look after themselves because of their health and social condition.

Home for addicts: long-term social institution providing nursing, care or/and rehabilitation for persons who require treatment stabilizing and improving mental and somatic conditions, and who are temporarily unable to care for themselves, but do not require compulsory institutional care.

Home for homeless persons: long-term social institution providing nursing, care or/and rehabilitation for persons who cannot be provided with a place in temporary shelters or rehabilitation institutions, and require a higher level of nursing or care for reasons of age and health.

Short-term residential social institution: institution providing full care for a maximum of one year with the exception of the temporary shelter and night shelter of the homeless people.

Temporary home for the elderly: social institution providing temporary home for elderly people or sick people over 18 years of age who are temporarily unable to look after themselves in their homes because of illness or other reasons.

Temporary home for disabled persons: social institution providing temporary home for disabled people who cannot be cared for by their families or whose temporary accommodation is necessary in order to relieve the burden on their families.

Temporary home for psychiatric patients: social institution providing temporary home for psychiatric patients who temporarily cannot be cared for by their families or in other institutions but do not require long-term institutional or hospital care.

Temporary home for addicts: social institution providing temporary home for addicts diagnosed by psychiatrist or addiction specialist who temporarily cannot be cared for by their families or in their surroundings.

Temporary shelter for homeless persons: social institution for temporary accommodation of homeless people who are able to care for themselves by means of lodging and social work.

Night shelter for homeless persons: social institution providing night shelter for homeless people who are able to care for themselves and to keep the rules of peaceful coexistence.

Residential home: long-term social institution for 8–12 psychiatric patients, disabled persons – including autistic persons – or addicts providing care for them in compliance with health condition and degree of independence.

Supported housing: social service providing housing service, case conduction, meals, nursing and care for disabled people, psychiatric patients and addicts.

Other home: homes which can't be classified by any of the above-mentioned types. Their numbers have decreased from 2004 and then they ceased to exist because of the methodological change.

Approved beds: number of beds in the operating permit of the social institution.

Sick-pay

The tables cover sick-pay data of employees, self-employed persons and members of business partnerships, including data of the Hungarian State Railways, and up to 1998 excluding data of those who made an individual contract with the National Health Insurance Fund Administration. From 1999 excluding data of the professional staff of armed forces, law enforcement bodies and civil national security services.

Sick-pay: it is a compensatory payment for income loss, paid for the period of inability to work during the insured status, but for one year at longest. The employee may receive sick-pay only after utilization of the sick-leave days, except for child nursing sick-pay and occupational accidents, when sick-pay is due from the first day of sickness. Entitled is a person who became unable to work during his/her insurance period and is obliged to pay a sickness insurance contribution stipulated by the Compulsory Health Care Insurance Act.

Sick-pay days: those of the days of unfitness for work for which the insured person received sick-pay (in calendar days).

Sick-pay case: cases of unfitness for work for which sick-pay was paid and which started during the accounting period.

Child nursing sick-pay is payable to the insured parent who has to care for her/his sick child and is therefore incapable of work.

Accident sick-pay is payable to an insured person or a person entitled to accident benefit who becomes unfit for work by consequence of an industrial accident or occupational disease. Self-employed people performing supplementary economic activities and employed pensioners are only entitled to accident sick-pay.

Sick-leave: an employee is entitled to 15 days' sick-leave per calendar year to cover periods of unfitness for work occurring by reason of sickness. The employer bears the expenses of sick-leave. (Between 1 January 1992 and 31 December 1995 sick-leave was set as 10 working days.)

Source of data: National Health Insurance Fund Administration (NHIFA), Ministry of Human Capacities (MHC), Hungarian State Treasury (HST).

Pensions, benefits, annuities and other provisions

On 1 January 2012, the pension system radically changed by two main organising principles: Pension in one's own right can be granted only to persons who have reached or are above the retirement age, aside from two exceptions. The exceptions: pensions granted to women with 40 years of entitlement time, and pensions (under the retirement age) granted to the former members of armed forces born before 1955. New awards of the latter may not be granted from 2012.

The different kinds of early old-age pensions granted before 2012 to those who were under the retirement age (such as early old-age pension, old-age pension with age-preference, early retirement pension, miners' pension, pension for certain artistic activities, etc.) have been transformed to benefits under retirement age, service provision (for former members of armed forces born in 1955 or after), temporary annuity for miners and annuity for ballet dancers. New awards of these benefits – under certain conditions – may be granted temporarily from 2012. After reaching the retirement age, these benefits (collective term: age-related benefits) are paid automatically as old-age pensions.

The second significant change is the introduction of two new benefits, the disability and the rehabilitation benefit, for people with reduced working capacity. At the same time, the disability pension, the accident-related disability pension, the regular social annuity and the temporary annuity were abolished. New awards of rehabilitation annuity may not be granted from 2012 and the existing annuities were running out of the pension system by degrees. Disability pension of persons who reached the retirement age before 2012 is provided as old-age pension from 2012. Temporary annuity was transformed to disability benefit, and – depending on the age of recipients and the degree of their disability – disability pensions under the retirement age and regular social annuity were transformed to disability benefits or rehabilitation benefits.

Recipients of pensions, benefits, annuities and other provisions: those, who receive financial benefits disbursed by the Pension Payment Directorate. Before changing the pension system in 2012, the term "Pensions, pension type benefits" was in use.

Approving resolution of new pensions and other benefits: a resolution approving the disbursement of pensions or other benefits in accordance with public administrative procedure regulations. The number of approving resolutions means all resolutions issued in the given year, regardless of whether said resolutions close claims submitted in the given or in previous years, or whether the starting date of the disbursement of pensions is a date in the given or in the previous years.

Full benefit: main and supplementary benefits together.

Main benefit: there is ranking among various benefits if several benefits are paid to the same person. The ranking up to 31 December 2011: pension, annuity, pension-type social benefit. Within pensions the ranking was as follows: pension in one's own right was in the first place and within that old-age and old-age-type pensions were in the first place. Ranking from 2012: old-age pension, age-related benefits, benefits of persons with reduced working capacity, survivors' pension benefits, annuity for members of agricultural co-operatives, accident annuity, disability annuity, spouse supplement and supplementary income, and other provisions.

Supplementary benefits: in case someone is granted more than one benefit, the benefits disbursed beside the main benefit.

Pensions and benefits in one's own right: collective term for old-age pensions, age-related benefits and benefits of persons with reduced working capacity in the pension statistics.

Full old-age pension shall be granted to the person who reached the retirement age stipulated in law and has at least 20 years of service time. In addition to old-age pensioners above the retirement age, women with 40 years of entitlement time are also classified as old-age pensioners, regardless the fact that they are under the retirement age. After reaching the retirement age, they are classified automatically as old-age pensioners over retirement age.

Pension granted to women with 40 years of entitlement time: irrespective of age, full old-age pension shall be due to any woman who has at least 40 years of entitlement time, that covers the gainful activities and the child-raising activities as well, and at least 32 years are obtained by means of gainful activities. The period of eligibility prescribed as 32 years shall be reduced if the claimant has raised at least 5 children in her own household.

Age-related benefits (benefits due to persons under retirement age): benefits granted to persons who are under the retirement age. These benefits have replaced the different kinds of early old-age pensions from 2012. The age-related benefits (benefit under retirement age, service provision, temporary annuity for miners, annuity for ballet dancers) are classified automatically to old-age pensions after reaching the retirement age.

Benefits to people with reduced working capacity: collective term in pension statistics, used for benefits provided to people with reduced working capacity. They include the disability benefit, the rehabilitation benefit, the miners' health impairment annuity and the rehabilitation annuity, which was disbursed until 2014.

Disability benefit: a health insurance benefit which is payable to persons with reduced working capacity who satisfy the required entitlement conditions. At the time of introduction the previously granted 1st and 2nd degree disability pension, the temporary annuity, the 3rd degree disability pension and the regular social annuity of those who reached the age of 57 years were transformed to disability benefit. New awards of disability benefit may be granted if the claimant's state of health is maximum 60% and the rehabilitation is not possible. For those who are in the same state of health but their rehabilitation is possible the benefit may be granted provided that they reach the retirement age within 5 years. The amount of the newly awarded benefit depends on the state of health and the possibility of rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation benefit: a health insurance benefit which is payable to persons with reduced working capacity who satisfy the required entitlement conditions. At the time of introduction the previously granted 3rd degree disability pension and the regular social annuity of those who did not reach the age of 57 years were transformed to rehabilitation benefit New awards of rehabilitation benefit may be granted if the claimant's state of health is maximum 60% and the rehabilitation is possible. Rehabilitation benefit is paid for the period of the rehabilitation, but for 3 years at most. The amount of the newly awarded benefit depends on the state of health and the possibility of rehabilitation.

Survivors' pension benefit: regular financial benefit paid to the surviving family member. It is determined on the right of the deceased pensioner (or recipient of the annuity for members of agricultural co-operatives) or of any deceased person not receiving but eligible for pension (or for an annuity for members of agricultural co-operatives). Survivors' pension benefits include widow(er)'s pension, widow(er)'s temporary pension, parents' pension and orphan's benefit.

Widow(er)'s pension: paid to spouses, life partners, divorced or separated spouses on grounds of – if certain conditions apply – their age, disability or in case they are eligible for orphan's benefit due to dependent children on the basis of the rights of the deceased. Parents' pension: paid to the parents, grandparents or under certain conditions to the foster-parents of the deceased insured person (pensioner).

Orphan's benefit: paid to the child, adopted child and under certain conditions, to the sibling, grandchild of a deceased pensioner or any deceased person who was not a pensioner but was eligible for pension.

Source of data: Central Administration of National Pension Insurance (CANPI), National Office for Rehabilitation and Social Affairs (NORSA), Directorate-General for Social Affairs and Child Protection (DGSACP), Ministry of Human Capacities (MHC), Hungarian State Treasury (HST).

 

Voluntary pension fund: an association created by natural persons under the principle of independence, mutuality, solidarity and voluntary participation for organizing, financing and providing pension services.

Fund member: any natural person who takes up membership in a fund and pays membership contributions and receives pension service from the fund.

Membership fee: the mandatory amount that has to be paid to the fund by the fund member, and voluntary supplement to this.

Individual account: record of contributions, on the basis of which the fund member's claim during the accumulation period and the fund member's pension service at the time of retirement shall be calculated. It includes the mandatory membership fee, the supplement to it, and in case of the voluntary pension funds the contribution of the employer.

Benefit reserves: funding for the types of benefits that are disbursed to fund members and the records regarding such.

Funding reserves: consist of the individual accounts and the benefit reserves. In the accumulation period, the fund shall keep individual accounts for the fund members and disburse pension benefits and lump-sum payments from the benefit reserves.

Sources of data: voluntary pension funds.

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