The psychology of commitment and marriage

Last week I had the great honour of presenting at the Budapest Demographic Summit. The conference was a celebration of Hungary’s ‘family friendly’ policies that have seen their fertility rate rise from the lowest in Europe to above the EU average over eleven years and to see their marriage rate nearly double. The conference was […]

We need to talk about Hungary

This article was first published in August by Conservative Woman During the lockdown restrictions of 2020, marriage rates fell in every country in Europe except one: Hungary. My new report from Marriage Foundation shows that while 23% fewer couples got married in Western European countries such as France, Germany and the Netherlands, the drop was […]

Family friendly Hungary

I’ve been somewhat immersed in all things Hungary during the past few weeks. Last month, I was invited to an international conference on the family by their government-backed think tank KINCS. And this week I had the pleasure of lunch in the Hungarian embassy in London with their families minister Katalin Novak. Hungary interests me […]

HUNGARY for marriage

Read Harry’s May newsletter here Hungary’s marriage rates have soared 72% in five years since 2014. I interviewed Hungary’s families minister Katalin Novak to find out why. It’s not just financial incentives, she says. It’s public support for marriage. Also in our May newsletter The Sewell Report on racism quite rightly says we should not […]

Hungary shows what effective family policy can look like

I recently interviewed Hungary families minister Katalin Novak to find out why their marriage rates have soared by 72% in just five years. Her answer is that Hungary has given clear financial incentives and public support for marriage since 2015. Contrast this with UK family policy that pays couples £250 to get married but £10,000 […]