Viktor Orbán is, perhaps, the most enigmatic character on the world scene. Unquestionably, Hungary’s Prime Minister drives leftists to despair. He is best known for his pro-family policies that rely heavily upon subsidies to rebuild the structure of families. Many see these initiatives as a model for the West in general.
However, despite massive funding and promotion, Mr. Orbán’s population policy is not working as planned.
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A recent article in Bloomberg looked at the dire population situation in the Central European country. Like many nations, Hungary faces a severe population decline and has for decades. According to The World Bank, Hungary’s birth rate from 1960 to 2022 averaged 1.69, at one point dropping to 1.23. During that time, only one year, 1975, saw it exceed the replacement rate of 2.1. As yet, there is no exact 2024 figure, but Bloomberg says it was “below 1.4.”
The implications of such numbers are jaw-dropping. In countries that prize cradle-to-grave benefits, such generational shrinkage means that a decreasing number of taxpayers will end up supporting a larger number of the elderly, which is economically unsustainable.
It is also unsustainable socially. As families shrink, increasing numbers of children have neither aunts, uncles or cousins. Extended families are social “safe spaces” where children can mature and make mistakes without being discarded as they would be from friendships and childcare outside of blood ties.
Purely Economic Incentives
To some extent, Mr. Orbán should be congratulated for at least looking at the issue squarely. Unfortunately, his solution is largely economic. The Hungarian Government’s official English-language website spells out some of the details about Hungary.
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“A family with three or more children may be eligible to receive up to 10 million HUF [Hungarian Forint, about $26,000 US] for a newly built home.” Additionally, “couples having three or more children may be eligible for a 25-year loan up to 10 million HUF at a fixed, 3 percent interest rate.” There are also significant breaks on Hungary’s “Value Added Tax” (VAT).
In a country where the average Northern Hungarian home is 9.52 million HUF, this is, essentially, a free house. That is a significant incentive to form families.
Yet it is not working. Hungary’s birthrate continues to fall. Mr. Orbán understands the economic side of the issue, but the moral dimension is lost on him.
In-Vitro Fertilization
Perhaps the best example of Mr. Orbán “playing fast and loose” with traditional morality is his promotion of in-vitro fertilization (IVF). The BBC described his takeover of six private fertility clinics in December 2019. Starting on February 1, 2020, the government offered Hungarians IVF treatments at no cost. According to a 2023 Forbes Magazine article, such treatments in U.S. clinics “can range from $15,000 to $30,000.”
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Usually, the process “harvests” eggs from infertile mothers. It then fertilizes them using sperm cells from the woman’s husband (or another man). Often, as many as a half dozen eggs are fertilized and frozen until some are implanted in the woman. If the first implantation is successful, the others are usually discarded. Since the disposed cells are also fertilized, the process is, in effect, an abortion.
The Catholic Church strongly opposes such measures. The National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) explains the Church’s position. “First, it goes against God’s plan for the way children are to come into the world…. Second, some embryos, some tiny human beings, are almost always killed through this procedure…. Third, it is common that more than one embryo will be placed in the uterus. Often, only one baby is desired, and so the doctors will kill one or more of the other babies…. Fourth, IVF treats children as though they were commodities to be produced for adult needs.”
The Moral Dimension
The mechanics of the population decline are well known—contraception and easily obtained abortions. Of course, these are only symptoms of a more significant problem. Since World War II, humanity has been too selfish to reproduce.
Such an attitude has profound moral consequences. God stated His first command to humanity in the form of a blessing to “increase and multiply and fill the earth.” (See Genesis 1:28.) Modern theologians argue whether the blessing or the command is more critical, but disobeying the command or refusing the blessing carries the same outcome. All human life is diminished by humanity’s desire for sin, pleasures, money and luxury—all of which overrule the biological imperative to reproduce. A free house is not enough to overcome such attitudes. Only God’s grace is sufficient.
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