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Hungary Welfare
In the late 1980s, the country's pension system covered
about
85 percent of the population falling within pensionable
ages.
Male workers could qualify for pensions at the age of
sixty,
female workers at the age of fifty-five. The number of
pensioners
had increased rapidly since the end of World War II as
people
lived longer and as pension coverage expanded to include
additional segments of the population. In the early 1950s,
the
country had had only 12 to 13 pensioners for every 100
active
workers. In the late 1980s, however, the country had 50
pensioners for every 100 active workers. This trend placed
a
heavy burden on the government, the main source of pension
funds.
The amount of a person's pension depended upon earnings
and
number of years of employment. In 1989 the minimum monthly
pension was 3,340 forints (about US$54). Yearly
cost-of-living
increases had failed to keep up with inflation. In 1979
the
government introduced major pension increases for the
lowest-paid
pensioners in an effort to improve the situation. The most
vulnerable pensioners tended to be women, whose pensions
averaged
25 percent less than men's pensions. More women had small
pensions than men because women generally had worked fewer
years
and earned lower salaries. About 20 percent of all
pensioners, or
about 400,000 persons, worked to bring in additional
income,
usually undertaking part-time or seasonal work. In the
1980s,
pensioners constituted a significant segment of the
country's
poor. The unfortunate circumstances of many elderly
citizens and
the need to reform the pension system were the subjects of
considerable press commentary.
Data as of September 1989
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