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Disquieting Quiet in Hungarian Social Policy
Author(s) -
Ferge Zsuzsa
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
international social security review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.349
H-Index - 28
eISSN - 1468-246X
pISSN - 0020-871X
DOI - 10.1111/1468-246x.00094
Subject(s) - solidarity , social policy , ideology , social exclusion , political science , resizing , social protection , political economy , development economics , economics , public economics , economic growth , economic policy , politics , law , european union
The paper briefly reviews the social policy of the first three freely elected Hungarian governments. The first two had no clear ideological profile, while the third one is neoconservative. The new social policy seeks to strengthen the nation, the family and the “middle classes”. Social spending is shrinking but skewed towards the better‐off, for instance by non‐refundable tax credits. The access to benefits of the poor and the unemployed has been made harsher. These developments have been accepted up to now with quiescence. The poor have no voice, and the not‐so‐poor have no solidarity for fear of losing their advantages. This policy promotes social exclusion.