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Hungary The Disadvantaged
To achieve an acceptable living standard or to improve
their
modest circumstances, most Hungarians had to work hard;
often
they held more than one job. Continuing inflation in the
1980s
created additional pressures on families with moderate
income.
Although the government introduced the five-day workweek
throughout the economy between 1980 and 1985, more persons
worked
extended workdays to increase household income. It was
estimated
that three families in four had some source of additional
income
not resulting from work in state or collective sources.
Many
families were thus able to achieve a comfortable, if still
modest, life-style.
A number of disadvantaged groups also tried to make
ends
meet. Western analysts estimated that between 25 and 40
percent
of the population lived below the poverty level, which, in
the
mid-1980s, was defined as a monthly income below 5,200
forints
(for value of the
forint--see Glossary).
Average monthly wages
(6,000 forints) were only 10 to 15 percent above this
level. In 1988, according to data issued by the Central Statistical
Office, between 1.5 million and 3 million people qualified as
"socially
poor" (out of population of 10.6 million). These figures
included
40 to 50 percent of all retired persons on pensions, about
half
of families with two children, and from 70 to 90 percent
of
families with three or more children. Other poor groups
were lowpaid employees of the state and industry, such as postal
employees, various semiskilled and unskilled workers, and
minor
bureaucrats. Some of these people supplemented their
income
through second jobs. Single heads of households were often
poor.
In addition, persons working on less productive collective
farms
and those living on isolated homesteads (tanyas)
far from
rural centers and even villages, were likely to have
scanty
incomes.
Although Hungary's living standard was higher than that
found
in neighboring socialist states in the 1980s, the sharp
disparities became the subject of investigative reports,
letters
to newspaper editors, and various radio and television
talk
shows. Economic problems were clearly causing concern and
some
demoralization among the people. The government adopted a
variety
of austerity measures in response to the country's
economic
stagnation and staggering foreign debt. These measures
included
increases in the prices of basic items, such as flour,
bread,
gasoline, and household energy, and various consumer items
such
as cigarettes. A new
value-added tax (see Glossary) on
most goods
and services and a stricter income tax law were also
introduced
(see Economic Regulators
, ch. 3). In 1988 official sources
reported an inflation rate of 17 percent. Western analysts
estimated that the inflation rate could be as high as 25
to 30
percent. By 1989 the average real wage had dropped to its
1973
level.
Since the mid-1970s, considerable tension has emerged
between
the rich and the poor, partially because of the
long-professed
egalitarian views of the regime. During the immediate
postwar
period, the leadership had advocated (although it had
never fully
practiced) a general egalitarianism that, combined with
the
prevailing scarcity, led people to elevate self-denial as
a
socialist virtue. When conditions subsequently improved,
the
leadership and the population both were confused about
what form
the proper socialist way of life should take. The younger
generation in particular took pleasure in the increasing
comforts
of life, but some members of the older generation feared a
resurgence of a "bourgeois" life-style and "consumerism."
Although poverty remained widespread, socialism's
sponsorship of
rapid economic development had offered many persons a
chance to
change their way of life and socioeconomic position in a
manner
that was unimaginable before the war. As living standards
improved, the conviction had grown among significant
segments of
the population that economic growth and rising standards
were
inevitable and that ongoing problems--poverty and unequal
opportunity--were remnants of the old order, certain to be
overcome. Then in the mid-1970s, economic growth had
slowed.
Although inequalities were much reduced from the prewar
scale,
they still existed. They were less pronounced in salary
differences than they were in working conditions, working
hours
(including their flexibility), housing conditions,
possession of
durable consumer items, and, most of all, general
life-style.
Even more troubling was the appearance of new
inequalities, with
favored groups consolidating their advantageous positions.
The
regime had few concrete answers for these problems.
Leaders could
only point out that the country had no models to follow in
developing a socialist system to meet its needs.
In the late 1980s, the worsening economic conditions
were a
disappointing contrast to the successes and significant
improvements in living standards achieved in the 1960s and
1970s.
In 1987 the official news agency estimated the number of
unemployed persons to be 30,000 to 40,000. In 1988 the
press
began reporting frankly on the noticeable numbers of
beggars and
homeless persons on the streets of Budapest. The media
also noted
that squatters were becoming a problem, especially
families
coming from the countryside seeking employment and moving
into
vacant apartments.
Data as of September 1989
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