TWO WEEKS ago, the Hungarian Parliament passed a constitution that is a direct rebuke to the values of the European Union and to the country’s Communist past. The constitution affirms Hungary’s Christian roots and defines marriage as between a man and a woman. It also sets a debt limit and speaks of respect for the unborn, though apparently Hungary’s liberal abortion laws will remain in place unless the parliament specifically overturns them. The Constitution states:   

We, the members of the Hungary Nation, assert our responsibility to say the following for all Hungary at the beginning of the millennium: 

We are proud of the fact that our King Stephen, the Saintly Patron of the Hungarian State for a thousand years had built a secure foundation and placed our Fatherland in the line of Christian Europe.

We are proud of our forebears, who persisted for that, who have fought for the freedom and independence of our Land.

We are proud of the great spiritual accomplishments of the Hungarian people.

We are proud that our people had defended Europe for a thousand years and whose common values were enriched by their talents and enriched its industry.

We recognize the role of Christianity in the persistence of the Nation.

                                      — Comments —

Jesse Powell writes:

This story about Hungary’s new constitution seems to be an important one; the constitution certainly promotes traditional family values with a heavy emphasis on Christian morality; it is indeed a slap in the face to the European Union’s social liberalism. According to the Wall Street Journal, the new constitution states, “Hungary guarantees the fundamental rights to every person without any discrimination on account of race, color, disability, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origins, financial situation and birth or any other grounds whatsoever”. Notice how “sex” and “sexual orientation” are not listed among the prohibited reasons to discriminate. The social conservatism of the new constitution of Hungary is particularly notable because the family situation in Hungary today is quite bad, worse than it is in the United States. 

Still, when looking at Hungary’s social indicators no sign has yet emerged that Hungary’s family situation is improving. First I want to look at the divorce rate in Hungary, the out-of-wedlock birth ratio, and the Total Fertility Rate from 1960 to the current day (2009).

Divorce, Out-of-Wedlock Births, and the Total Fertility Rate in Hungary – 1960 to 2009

From the above chart, you can see that Hungary’s divorce rate is among the highest in the world at nearly 2/3rds today. Out-of-wedlock births started rising rapidly in 1980 and Hungary’s fertility rate took a steep dive after 1990, after the collapse of Communism, a fall that it has not yet recovered from. In 2009, Hungary had a very high divorce rate, a high illegitimacy ratio, and a very low fertility rate all at the same time; the family situation in Hungary today may be the worst of any country in Europe.

When looking at the marriage rate of Hungary’s women; the proportion of women of reproductive age who are married, one finds a pattern similar to what happened in the United States. In the United States marriage rates hit a historic high in 1960 and since then have declined continuously. Hungary had a similar pro-marriage phase during which marriage rates rose above their historical norms hitting a peak in 1980 after which marriage rates declined very rapidly.

In the table below I show the proportion of women of reproductive age who were married from 1960 to 2001; in addition I include the educational attainment of women compared to men and the employment rate of women compared to men to show how these factors coincide with the fall in the marriage rate, particularly among women under 30 years old.

The labels in the table are: MR/15-29 (Marriage Rate of women 15 to 29 years old, the proportion of women 15 to 29 years old who are married); MR/30-44 (Marriage Rate of women 30 to 44 years old); MR/15-44 (Marriage Rate of women 15 to 44 years old); WR/Edu (Women’s Ratio of Education, the proportion of women 30 to 34 years old with college degrees compared to the proportion of men 30 to 34 years old with college degrees); WR/Emp (Women’s Ratio of Employment, the employment rate of women compared to the employment rate of men among the total population).

Proportion of Women Married 15 to 44 years old and the Educational Level and Employments Rates of Women in Hungary – 1960 to 2001

What is most remarkable about the above table is the very rapid fall in the marriage rate after 1980; from 1980 to 2001, among women 15 to 44 years old, the marriage rate fell at -1.9% a year, a very fast rate, a little more than twice as fast as the rate of decline in marriage in the United States since 1960. From 1980 to 1990 the marriage rate declined at -1.3% a year and from 1990 to 2001 declined at -2.4% a year; the acceleration in the decline after 1990 probably being the result of the social turmoil caused by the collapse of Communism. In addition, women in Hungary now graduate from college at higher rates than men, just like is happening in the United States.

So, does the new constitution in Hungary represent a backlash against the many degradations of feminism and liberal social attitudes in general? I certainly hope so. It would be nice to see a country in Europe turn the corner and start to rebuild its families after many decades of decline.

Sources: 

Council of Europe – Population – Social Cohesion – Hungary; Eurostat – Population – Demography – National Data; Hungarian Central Statistical Office – Demographic data – Summary data

Laura writes:

The new constitution still faces considerable opposition. The Wall Street Journal article you mention gives a good overview. 

Jesse Powell writes:

I’m afraid I have to offer a correction to what I said earlier about the new Hungarian constitution not including “sex” in its list of prohibited reasons to discriminate.  In the English translation, under the Freedom and Responsibility section, Article 14, it states: 

“(1) Everyone is equal under the law. Everyone shall have legal capacity.

(2) Hungary ensures fundamental rights to all, without any discrimination based on sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, national origin, handicap, language, religion, political or any other opinion, property, birth or other condition without discrimination.

(3) Men and women have equal rights.

(4) Hungary shall institute measures aimed at achieving equality and preventing the lack of equal opportunities.” 

[English Translation – Constitution / Basic Law of Hungary]

Looking at the actual text of the new Hungarian constitution; which is written in the Hungarian language; using the Google Translate application to convert Hungarian into English, one finds the machine translation is consistent with the English translation above; “sex” is definitely included in the list of prohibited reasons to discriminate.

So, this casts a new light on things.  Not only is “sex” mentioned in the list of prohibited reasons to discriminate, it is actually given a special emphasis above the other prohibited reasons to discriminate as the prohibition against sex discrimination is reinforced and restated on its own separate line.  Not only that but the constitution seems to say that special measures should be taken to promote equality even when it does not naturally arise in the society. 

With this new information it seems that the new Hungarian constitution is downright feminist; it does not appear to be the radical document signaling a new and vigorous effort on the part of Hungarians to rebuild their family life that I hoped it was; it looks like Hungarian family life has further to decline before a real effort at restoration is attempted.

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