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Hungary Standard of Living
In 1989 the supply and selection of food and other
consumer
goods in Hungary exceeded those in most other East
European
countries, and Hungarians as a whole suffered nothing
similar to
the hardship that the Romanians and Bulgarians endured in
the
1980s as a result of government-ordered energy cutbacks.
In 1986
Hungary's per capita meat consumption was the highest in
Eastern
Europe, while its egg consumption ranked among the
highest. Per
capita consumption of meat, fish, milk and dairy products,
eggs,
vegetables, potatoes, coffee, wine, beer, and hard liquor
all
increased significantly between 1950 and 1984. In 1960 the
majority of households had both a bicycle and a radio, 20
percent
owned a washing machine, and a few even possessed a
television, a
refrigerator, or an automobile. By 1984, 96 out of 100
households
owned a washing machine, every household owned a
refrigerator,
and the ratio of television sets to households was 108 to
100.
The quality and variety of durable consumer goods on sale
has
also improved. As in other societies, purchase of luxury
items
was the prerogative of higher-income groups. For example,
in the
late 1980s automobiles were owned mostly by upper- and
middle-income households. As of 1984, only 34 out of 100
households owned an automobile.
In 1986 the total disposable income of all Hungarians
was the
equivalent of US$17.2 billion. Hungarians spent 88 percent
of
that income, saved 6.2 percent, and invested 5.8 percent
in
building their own housing. Foodstuffs accounted for 27.1
percent
of personal spending; services, 26.6 percent; beverages
and
tobacco, 14.6 percent; other consumer goods, 11.6 percent;
clothing, 8.2 percent; durable goods, 7.9 percent; and
heating
and energy, 4 percent. The state paid the cost of medical
and
other social services
(see Health
, ch. 2).
Official Hungarian sources reported that the average
per
capita monthly wage was 6,000 forints in 1988, about 14
percent
above the officially recognized poverty level of 5,200
forints
($US84.00). Economists estimated that between 25 and 40
percent
of the people lived below the poverty level.
Data as of September 1989
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