Many mothers are expected by employers to return to work after the birth of their child, even shortly afterwards. As societies age and labour shortages increase, it is becoming increasingly important for employers that mothers return to work, even from home where this is feasible. Meanwhile, also because of ageing societies, childbearing and childrearing are the cornerstone of society and the economy. Of course, when a mother returns to work is always a specific question, a decision taken at individual and/or family level. Some people are forced to work for financial reasons within a short time after the birth of a child. In Hungary, the earliest time a mother can start working without having to give up benefits is after the end of the infant care benefit period (from the 169th day after the birth of the child), i.e. the mother can work without any time or income limit. According to KSH data, in the third quarter of 2024, an average of 31,500 people in Hungary received childcare benefits while working, an increase of 14% over three years. Internationally, on average in the OECD, 45% of mothers were actively employed and working in 2021 while raising at least one child aged 0-2, while in Hungary, 16.3% of mothers were actively working in 2021, according to OECD data.
Opportunities for working while receiving childcare benefit (gyed) and childcare allowance (gyes) in Hungary
After the birth of a baby, parents (especially mothers) are entitled to several types of benefit and paid leave, but it varies which ones allow them to do paid work.
Essentially only the mother is entitled to the infant care benefit (csed), which entitles her to 24 weeks (168 days) of paid maternity leave. However, no csed is payable if the mother is gainfully employed in any capacity. Therefore, whether you are an employee or a self-employed person working from home, you will have to give up the infant care benefit.
Childcare benefit (gyed) is paid from the day after the end of the infant care benefit (maternity leave) or the corresponding period until the child is 2 years old, or until the child is 3 years old in the case of twins. Gyed is available to both the mother and the father, at the parents’ choice, as opposed to csed. The amount of the benefit is determined on the basis of income. Gyed allows for unlimited gainful activity, and the beneficiary receives the amount of the benefit in addition to his or her total earnings.
It is important to know that while gyed is being paid, the child must be brought up at home and cannot be placed in a day care institution (e.g. a nursery), unless the beneficiary is in gainful employment or studying full-time. In other words, if the mother goes back to work while her child is in nursery, the mother is entitled to childcare allowances (gyes or gyed) in addition to her salary.
Nursery development programme
Nurseries, where parents can keep their children safe, help mothers return to work. The number of nurseries in Hungary has more than tripled since 2010, with 1,130 settlements offering nursery services and 65,000 places in total.
Other gyed options
The rules for graduate gyed and foster gyed allowance are different from the general rules, as you can only start working from the 169th day after the birth of the child.
To be eligible for grandparent‘s gyed, both the mother and the father (or, in the case of a single parent, the parent caring for the child) must be gainfully employed. However, the grandparent cannot work while receiving the benefit, unless the work is done exclusively in the home.
A parent receiving childcare allowance (gyes) cannot engage in gainful employment until the child is six months old, but after that, there is no time limit. In addition, a person who receives gyes (this is the childcare allowance for parents or guardians with three or more minors) can work up to 30 hours a week, but if the work is done exclusively in the home, there is no time limit.
It is also important to know that from 2023, the Labour Code has been amended on the basis of Bill T/1845 “Amending certain laws on employment”:
- Parents must be offered part-time work by their employer until their child is 4 years old.
- They can also ask for changes to their place of work and working hours (part-time and home working) until their child is 8 years old.
- Parents can also request teleworking, which can only be refused by the employer if there is sufficient justification.
Of course, when a mother returns to work is always a specific question and a decision made at individual and/or family level.
Why employ a parent with young children?
The labour market in Europe, and in Hungary in particular, has recovered in a relatively short period of time following the pandemic, and labour shortages have once again become a key problem, which may become even more acute as society ages. Attention is therefore increasingly focused on groups on the margins of the labour market whose labour reserves have been less exploited and thus represent a potential source of labour: students, young workers, parents with young children, older working-age and retired people, as well as people with disabilities. The employment of these groups is also supported by various benefits: e.g. personal income tax exemption up to the average wage for under-25s, and contribution exemption for retired workers. In addition, various tax benefits are available to certain companies: since 2013, the Job Protection Action has been providing wage subsidies to employers who employ the most vulnerable groups of workers, including parents with young children (or people with disabilities).
So, in terms of financial benefits, it promotes the employment of parents with young children that employers may be entitled to a social contribution tax credit (szocho) after parents who are in employment while they are receiving gyed, gyes and gyet (child raising support), or after these benefits have expired.
There are not only financial benefits to employing mothers with young children – as well as requiring flexibility on the part of the employer (flexible working hours and the possibility to work from home). Working even just a few hours a week, a mother working while receiving gyed can keep up with the world and its changes (perhaps also professional news), so she does not fall behind in terms of her job. Raising a child can also develop new skills that mothers can use in their work (e.g. logistics, self-awareness, confidence, focus).
Parents with young children as a potential source of labour, childcare at the global level, its financing and family costs have been discussed in in our previous analysis in detail.
What are the possible reasons for taking up employment?
In most cases, employers not only welcome mothers back – especially in areas where there are labour shortages –, but also offer them employment benefits. On the other side of the labour market, however, mothers and families may have several considerations to weigh, and mothers may choose to work or to raise children ‘full-time’ for a variety of reasons (in general terms and not exhaustively, as specific individual cases may exist):
- Being away from the child during the day (issues to consider: emotional burden, worry, family logistics, etc.): expanding nursery services, working from home and part-time work can help.
- Family budget issues: there may be families where the mother is forced to work while raising the children for financial reasons. Various state family support schemes (e.g. free or reduced-price meals for children, free school books, travel allowances, tax credits) aim to assist in this regard – as well as helping mothers to return to work if they choose to.
- The mother’s mental balance affects the whole family: the family and the love and upbringing of the children are the priority – this can be greatly supported by the parents, especially the mother being energised. One (!) way of doing this – depending on the mother’s personality – may be if she gets out of the family environment for a few hours and “returns to her old life”, her work. In this way, she can keep up with the world and the rhythm of work.
However, it is also important to consider if it is worth it for the family if the mother of a young child works. How can they manage work in terms of time? How does it affect the upbringing of the young child or the relationship between the parents? When does a mother’s work benefit or harm the family dynamics?
It cannot be stressed enough, however, that a mother’s return to work, even if it is for shorter hours and/or from home, must always be an individual and/or family decision.
How many people on childcare allowance work in Hungary?
According to KSH, a total of 31,500 people on gyed and gyes were working in Hungary in the third quarter of 2024(latest available data) (average number of employees in the organisation’s activities, excluding self-employed). 19,232 people received gyed while working, while 12,264 people received gyes during this period.
Regarding the scope of the survey, KSH points out that the data include employed persons and self-employed persons who participate in the work of their organisation and receive a wage above the minimum wage, but are not considered as employed persons. In calculating the average number of employees, KSH also takes into account persons who have worked only part of the month or have been absent without pay for more than one month, and thus count less than one person in the number of employees.
According to KSH data, the average number of people in Hungary receiving gyed and gyes while working has increased in recent years, with a 14% increase in the third quarter of 2024 (a total of 31,500 people) compared to the third quarter of 2021 (a total of 27,600 people).
It is important to note, however, that there may be an overlap between the group of people receiving gyed while working and the group of people receiving gyes while working, as a parent with more than one child may have received both benefits, or their benefits may have changed during the year.
In 3 years, the number of people working while receiving gyed and gyes has increased by 14% in Hungary.
Source: Hungarian Central Statistical Office (www.ksh.hu) – Average number of people receiving gyed and gyes while working among participants in the activities of the organisation, excluding self-employed people, 2021-2024 [people] – tabular data file compiled on individual request. By Dóra Erdélyi. The figure can be referenced here: https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/21823966/
Employment rate of women with young children worldwide
The amount of maternity and childcare leave granted to mothers and the pay of stay-at-home parents varies between countries around the world (see our previous analysis for more details). In some countries, mothers are given shorter paid leave after the birth of their child (e.g. 6 weeks paid maternity leave in Portugal) and thus return to work sooner; in others, parents are supported to stay at home with their child for longer periods (e.g. more than 150 weeks of leave after childbirth in Slovakia, Finland and Hungary).
These differences also determine when mothers start working after the birth of their child in different countries. OECD has looked at the proportion of women aged 15-64 who are employed and their status while raising a child aged 0-2 in 32 countries around the world.
On average in the OECD, 45% of mothers with children aged 0-2 years worked while not on (maternity or parental) leave. Source: OECD. Created by Dóra Erdélyi. The figure can be referenced here: https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/21824115/
Data shows that on average in the OECD (where data is available), 64% of new mothers (youngest child aged 0-2) have employed status. Within this group, 45% of mothers were in active employment (not on maternity or parental leave), 9% were on maternity leave in the year under review (while also on staff) and 9.5% were on parental leave (while also having employed status).
Of the 32 countries surveyed, the Netherlands (74%) and Portugal (68%) had the highest rates of mothers working while raising a child aged 0-2 (both countries have very short paid maternity leave, 16 weeks and 6 weeks respectively). The Czech Republic (11.1%) and Slovakia (9.1%) had the lowest rates of mothers working (with a child aged 0-2), followed by Hungary, where 16.3% of mothers were actively working in 2021 while raising children aged 0-2, according to the OECD. The majority of mothers (52.6%) were on parental leave in 2021 in Hungary while on staff at work. This may also be explained by the fact that Slovakia and Hungary have the longest overall paid maternity and parental leave after the birth of a child in the world (more than 150 weeks, as in Finland), making it less necessary for mothers (and families) to return to the labour market for financial reasons and allowing them to stay at home with their child for longer.
The possibilities of returning from leave to care for and raise children and the labour market situation of parents with young children were discussed in detail in our previous analysis.
Conclusions – summary
With labour shortages and an ageing society, attention is increasingly focused on groups on the margins of the labour market whose labour resources have so far been less exploited and are therefore a potential source of labour: students, young workers, parents with young children, older working-age and retired people, and people with disabilities. The employment of these groups is also supported through various benefits.
However, on the other side of the labour market, mothers and families may weigh up a number of factors when deciding on employment: financial, psychological, family or even health issues, based on which they make their own individual, family-level decisions about whether to work.
In Hungary, the earliest one can be gainfully employed without having to give up benefits is after the end of the payment of csed (from the 169th day after the birth of the child), i.e. the mother can work without any time or income limit while receiving gyed, gyes and gyet (in the latter case there may be restrictions).
According to KSH data, in the third quarter of 2024, an average of 31,500 people in Hungary received gyed-gyes while working, an increase of 14% over three years. Internationally, on average in the OECD, 45% of mothers were in employment while raising at least one child aged 0-2. Furthermore, 9% of them were on maternity leave in the year under review (while also on staff) and 9.5% were on parental leave (while also having employment status).
Of the 32 countries surveyed, the Netherlands (74%) and Portugal (68%) had the highest rates of mothers working while raising a child aged 0-2 (both countries have very short paid maternity leave, 16 weeks and 6 weeks respectively). The Czech Republic (11.1%) and Slovakia (9.1%) had the lowest rates of mothers working (with a child aged 0-2), followed by Hungary, where OECD data shows that 16.3% of mothers were actively working in 2021 while raising children aged 0-2. This may also be explained by the fact that Slovakia and Hungary have the longest paid maternity and parental leave after childbirth in the world.
