Hungary

Gender equality in the domain of work has slightly improved. Segregation remains a major challenge.

The employment rate (20-64) is 62 % for women versus 76 % for men. The total employment rate is 69 % and Hungary has not reached its national Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020) target (75 %).

The gender gap in the employment rate is similar when the number of hours worked is taken into account. The full-time equivalent (FTE) employment rate of women is around 43 %, compared to 58 % for men.

Among women and men in a couple with children, the FTE employment rate for women is 58 % compared to 81 % for men. The gender gap is much higher compared to that of couples without children (23 percentage points (p.p.) for couples without children and and 0.4 p.p. for couples with children). The FTE employment rate increases as education levels rise, and the gender gap in FTE employment is higher among people born abroad than among those born in Hungary.

8 % of women work part-time, compared to 4 % of men. On average, women work 39 hours per week, compared to 41 hours for men. 8 % of working-age women versus 0.4 % of working-age men are either outside the labour market or work part-time due to care responsibilities.

Gender segregation in the labour market is a reality for women and men. Nearly 24 % of women compared to 6 % of men work in education, human health and social work activities (EHW). About five times more men (37 %) than women (8 %) work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) occupations.

The score in the domain of money has increased. Gender equality has improved in the sub-domain of financial resources, whereas it has regressed regarding economic situation.

Mean monthly earnings of women and men have increased, although the gender gap has not changed significantly. Women earn around 16 % less than men per month.

The gender gap in earnings is higher among women and men in a couple with children and among highly educated people, always to the detriment of women.

The percentage of women and men at risk of poverty has increased. The risk affects women and men with approximately the same intensity (about 13% and 14 %, respectively). 34 % of lone fathers, 31 % of men with a low level of education and 25 % of lone mothers and women with a low level of education are at risk of poverty.

Inequalities in income distribution have increased. The gender pay gap is 14 % to the detriment of women. In 2012, women had lower pensions than men and the gender gap was 15 %. The EU-28 averages regarding the gender pay gap and pensions are 16 % and 38 %, respectively.

The score in the domain of knowledge has stalled. Gender equality has improved regarding attainment and participation, but has regressed concerning segregation.

The number of tertiary graduates has increased significantly, mostly among men. 21 % of women and 18 % of men have a tertiary degree. The gap, to the detriment of men, has increased. Up to the age of 64, there are more women than men who have completed tertiary education.

Only 10 % of women with disabilities have attained tertiary education, compared to 26 % of women without disabilities. For men the figures are, respect­ively, 12 % and 19 %.

Hungary has already met its national EU2020 target to have 34 % of people aged 30-34 obtain tertiary education. The current rate is 34 %.

Women’s and men’s participation in lifelong learning has increased.

In Hungary, gender segregation in knowledge remains a problematic area. 39 % of women students are concentrated in the fields of education, health and welfare, humanities and arts, compared to only 18 % of men.

In the domain of time, the score has decreased. The situation has become more gender unequal, especially in the sub-domain of care activities.

Women take on more responsibilities to care for their family. 30 % of women care for and educate their family members for at least 1 hour per day, compared to 25 % of men. Among women and men in a couple with children, women are more involved in daily care activities (85 %) than men (70 %).

56 % of women do cooking and housework every day for at least 1 hour, compared to only 14 % of men. This gender gap has increased and is even larger among women and men in a couple with children, with 72 % of women and 12 % of men doing cooking and housework daily.

Inequality in time-sharing at home also partially extends to social activities. Women are more likely than men to participate in sporting, cultural, and leis­ure activities outside the home (17 % versus 13 %). Participation in voluntary or charitable activities is also slightly higher for women than for men (11 % and 9 %, respectively).

15 % of children under the age of three and 89 % of children between the age of three and school age are enrolled in childcare. Hungary has not met the first ‘Barcelona target’, which is to have at least 33 % of children below the age of three in childcare. Hungary is very close to reaching the second target of having at least 90 % of children between the age of three and school age in childcare, however, and is above the EU-28 average in this regard.

The score in the domain of power has slightly increased, due to the improvement in the representation of women in decision-making positions in the area of economic power. Nonetheless, in the domain of power, Hungary has the lowest score in the EU-28.

The sub-domain of political power has regressed. The percentage of women Members of Parliament remained approximately the same from 2005 to 2015 (9 % versus 10 % of seats). However, gender equality has dramatically decreased among women and men ministers, from 12 % in 2005 to 2 % in 2015.

Publicly listed companies have seen a slight increase in the percentage of women on their corporate boards, from 10 % in 2005 to 13 % in 2015. Moreover, the presence of women has increased in the decision-making positions in the central bank, with 11 % of seats held in 2015 compared to no seats held in 2005.

There are no women members of the boards of research funding organisations. Women make up approximately 24 % of the board members of publicly owned broadcasting organisations. In sport, women comprise just 9 % of members of the highest decision-making bodies of national Olympic sport organisations.

The scores in the domain of health have increased slightly. The improvement in gender equality is seen in status and access, while in behaviour it has stalled.

The sub-domain of status measures perceived health, life expectancy and healthy life years. All indicators have improved and the gaps between women and men have narrowed in all three areas.

Life expectancy has increased for both women and men. Women on average live nearly 7 years longer than men. When it comes to healthy life years, however, the gender gap reduces to 2 years.

53 % of women and 60 % of men assess their health as ‘good’ or ‘very good’. The level of satisfaction about one’s health increases with level of education; the gender gap is wider among people with a low level of education than among those with a medium or high level of education.

The increase in the sub-domain of access is a reflection of the increase of the levels of medical and dental needs met among women and men, and of the narrowing of the gender gaps.

41 % of men smoke or drink excessively, compared to around 24 % of women. At the same time, slightly more men than women engage in healthy behaviour (physical activities and/or consuming fruit and vegetables).

Violence against women is included in the Gender Equality Index as a satellite domain. This means that the scores of the domain of violence do not have an impact on the final score of the Gender Equality Index. From a statistical perspective, the domain of violence does not measure gaps between women and men as core domains do. Rather, it measures and analyses women’s experiences of violence. Unlike other domains, the overall objective is not to reduce the gaps of violence between women and men, but to eradicate violence completely.

A high score in the Gender Equality Index means a country is close to achieving a gender-equal society. However, in the domain of violence, the higher the score, the more serious the phenomenon of violence against women in the country is. On a scale of 1 to 100, 1 represents a situation where violence is non-existent and 100 represents a situation where violence against women is extremely common, highly severe and not disclosed. The best-performing country is therefore the one with the lowest score.

Hungary’s score for the domain of violence is 26.7, which is in line with the EU average of 27.5.

In Hungary, 28 % of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence at least once since the age of 15. In the EU-28 the average is 33 %.

13 % of women who have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by any perpetrator in the past 12 months have not told anyone. This is in line with the EU average.

At the societal level, violence against women costs Hungary an estimated EUR 4.4 billion per year through lost economic output, service utilisation and personal costs (1).

The domain of violence is made up of three sub-domains: prevalence, which measures how often violence against women occurs; severity, which measures the health consequences of violence; and disclosure, which measures the reporting of violence.

[1] This is an exercise done at EU level to estimate the costs of the three major dimensions: services, lost economic output and pain and suffering of the victims. The estimates were extrapolated to the EU from a United Kingdom case study, based on population size. EIGE, Estimating the costs of gender-based violence in the European Union, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2014, p. 142.

Hungary’s score in the domain of work is 67.4, showing progress of 2 points since 2005 (+ 0.2 points since 2015), with increased participation of women and men in employment.

The employment rate (of people aged 20-64) is 67 % for women and 82 % for men. With the overall employment rate of 74 %, Hungary is not far from reaching its national EU 2020 employment target of 75 %. Between 2005 and 2017, the full-time equivalent (FTE) employment rate rose from 39 % to 45 % for women and from 54 % to 62 % for men, widening the gender gap. Between women and men in couples with children, the gap is much bigger than in couples without children (28 percentage points (p.p.) and 3 p.p.). Around 7 % of women work part-time, compared to 3 % of men. On average, women and men work very similar hours per week: 39 and 40 hours. This is the third lowest gap in the EU.

The uneven concentration of women and men in different sectors of the labour market remains an issue. Around 25 % of women work in education, health and social work, compared to 5 % of men. Fewer women (8 %) than men (38 %) work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) occupations, amounting to a gender gap of 29 p.p., which is above the EU average of 26 p.p.

Hungary‘s score in the money domain is 71.6, showing progress of 5.1 points since 2005 (+ 0.9 points since 2015), with improvements in the financial situations of women and men.

Despite an increase in mean monthly earnings by a third for both women and men from 2006 to 2014, the gender gap persists. Women earn 16 % less than men per month. This gender gap is much wider among people born abroad than among those born in Hungary. Foreign-born women earn 33 % less than foreign-born men. Native-born women earn 15 % less than native-born men. The gender gap is also bigger between women and men in couples with children.

Around 13 % of women and men are at risk of poverty, with slight increases for both since 2005. People facing the highest risk of poverty are lone parents (31 %). The risk of poverty is higher among people with low levels of education than among those with higher education. Inequalities in income distribution increased among women and among men between 2005 and 2017. On average, women earn 86 cents for every euro a man makes per hour, resulting in a gender pay gap of 14 %. The gender pension gap is also 14 %.

Hungary’s score in the domain of knowledge is 56.9, remaining stable since 2005 (no change since 2015). Since 2005, Hungary has lost four positions to rank 16th in the domain of knowledge in the EU.

Between 2005 and 2017, the share of women with tertiary education increased at a faster pace (from 14 % to 21 %) compared to men (from 14 % to 18 %). The gender gap in attainment is wider between women and men aged 25-49 (8 p.p. to the detriment of men) and women and men aged 65 or more (8 p.p. to the detriment of women). Hungary has met its national EU 2020 target of having at least 34 % of people aged 30-34 with tertiary education. The rate stands below the target at 34 % (41 % for women and 27 % for men). Participation rates in lifelong learning remained the same between 2005 and 2017. Around 13 % of women and 14 % of men engage in formal or non-formal education and training.

With a decreasing score in the sub-domain of segregation, the uneven concentration of women and men in different study fields in tertiary education continues to be a challenge for Hungary. About 40 % of women students and 19 % of men students study education, health and welfare, and humanities and art.

Hungary’s score in the domain of time has not changed since the last edition of the Index because new data is not available. The next data update for this domain is expected in 2021. More frequent time-use data would help to track progress in this domain.

In the domain of time, Hungary’s score is 54.3, well below the EU’s score of 65.7. The situation has worsened in both sub-domains since 2005, especially in care activities. About 30 % of women care for and educate their family members for at least one hour per day, compared to 25 % of men. Among women and men in couples with children, women are more involved in daily care activities (84 %) than men (70 %). Around 56 % of women cook and do housework every day for at least one hour, compared to only 14 % of men. This gender gap is wider in couples with children, where 72 % of women and 11 % of men cook and do housework daily.

In contrast to most EU countries, in Hungary, more women (17 %) than men (13 %) are involved in sporting, cultural and leisure activities outside the home.

Hungary’s score for the domain of power is 20.6, showing progress of 4.3 points since 2005 (+ 1.9 points since 2015). This score is the lowest across all domains and the pace of progress in this domain is much slower than the progress of the EU (+ 13 points). Despite strong improvements in the sub-domain of economic power, Hungary ranks last in the domain of power in the EU.

Between 2005 and 2018, the share of women members of parliament increased from 9 % to 12 %, while the share of women ministers dropped from 11 % to 4 %. Women make up 12 % of members of regional assemblies. Hungary has the lowest score in the sub-domain of political power in the EU.

In the same period, the share of women increased among the board members of both the largest publicly listed companies (from 10 % to 15 %) and the central bank (from 0 % to 11 %). In the sub-domain of social power, Hungary has the second lowest score in the EU. There are no women on the boards of research funding organisations. Women comprise 29 % of board members of publicly owned broadcasting organisations and only 10 % of board members of the highest decision-making bodies of national Olympic sports organisations.

Hungary’s score in the domain of health is 86.6, showing progress of 4.2 points since 2005 (+ 0.6 points since 2015). There are improvements in the sub-domains of health status and access to health services. There is no new data for health behaviour.

Between 2005 and 2017, self-perceptions of good health increased for both women and men. Around 55 % of women and 64 % of men perceive their health as good (compared to 42 % and 49 % in 2005). Health satisfaction increases with a person’s level of education but decreases with age. The gender gap is most significant between women and men born outside Hungary (20 p.p.), between single women and men (17 p.p.), and women and men with low levels of education (17 p.p.). Life expectancy increased in Hungary, between 2005 and 2016. On average, women live seven years longer than men (80 compared to 73 years).

Adequate access to medical and dental care increased in Hungary from 2005 to 2017. Around 6 % of both women and men report unmet medical needs (16 % of women and 18 % of men in 2005). Only 3 % of both women and men report unmet needs for dental examinations (15 % and 17 % in 2005). A higher share of women and men with disabilities report unmet needs for dental care (23 % and 20 %), compared to women and men without disabilities (8 % for both).

Why is there no score for the violence domain?

There is no new data to update the score for violence, which is why no figure is given. Eurostat is currently coordinating an EU-wide survey on gender-based violence, with results expected in 2023. EIGE will launch a second round of administrative data collection on intimate partner violence, rape and femicide in 2022. Both data sources will be used to update the domain of violence in the Gender Equality Index 2024.

Unlike the other domains of the Index, the domain of violence does not measure differences between women’s and men’s situations; rather, it examines women’s experiences of violence (prevalence, severity and disclosure). The overall objective is not to reduce the gaps in violence between women and men, but to eradicate violence completely.

Data gaps mask the true scale of violence

Istanbul Convention: state of play

The Istanbul Convention is the most comprehensive international human rights treaty on violence against women and domestic violence. Hungary signed the Istanbul Convention in March 2014 but is yet to ratify it.

A lack of evidence to assess violence against women

Violence at a glance

1. Femicide
   In 2018, over 600 women were murdered by an intimate partner, a family member or a relative in 14 EU Member States, according to official reports. In Hungary, 13 women were killed by a family member and 11 women were killed by their partners in 2017.
   Source: Eurostat, 2017 and 2018
2. Physical and/or sexual violence
   18 % of women who experienced physical and/or sexual violence, experienced it in their own home .
   11 % of lesbian women and 9 % of bisexual women were physically or sexually attacked in the past five years for being LGBTI.
   Source: FRA’s Fundamental Rights Survey and LGBTI Survey II, 2019
3. Harassment
   15 % of women experienced harassment in the past five years, and 9 % in the past 12 months.
   17 % of women with disabilities experienced harassment in the past five years, and 7 % in the past 12 months .
   Source: FRA’s Fundamental Rights Survey, 2019
4. Cyberviolence
   6 % of women were subjected to cyber harassment in the past five years, and 3 % in the past 12 months.
   Among women aged 16-29, 14 % experienced cyber harassment in the past five years, and 9 % in the past 12 months.
   Source: FRA’s Fundamental Rights Survey, 2019
5. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
   No data available.

Istanbul Convention: state of play

The Istanbul Convention is the most comprehensive international human rights treaty on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. Hungary signed the Istanbul Convention in March 2014 but is yet to ratify it. Urgent action is needed to end misinterpretation of the Istanbul Convention and to reinforce efforts to end violence against women.

A lack of evidence to assess violence against women

Femicide

In 2020, 788 women were murdered by an intimate partner, a family member or a relative in 17 EU Member States, according to official reports. In Hungary, 18 women were killed by their partners and 11 women were killed a family member in 2020.

Source: Eurostat, 2020

Istanbul Convention: state of play

The Istanbul Convention is the most comprehensive international human rights treaty on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence. Hungary signed the Istanbul Convention in March 2014 but is yet to ratify it.

EIGE/FRA survey

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) will carry out a survey on violence against women (VAW II) in eight EU Member States (CZ, DE, IE, CY, LU, HU, RO, SE), which will complement the Eurostat-led data collection on gender-based violence and other forms of interpersonal violence (EU-GBV) in the remaining countries. The use of a unified methodology will ensure the availability of comparable data across all EU Member States. Data collection will be completed in 2023, and the results will be used to update the domain of violence in the Gender Equality Index 2024 and its thematic focus on violence against women.

A nők elleni erőszak felmérésére szolgáló bizonyítékok hiánya

Pillanatkép az erőszakról

1. Nőgyilkosság
   A hivatalos jelentések szerint 2018-ban 14 uniós tagállamban több mint 600 nőt gyilkolt meg intim partnere, családtagja vagy rokona. 2017-ben Magyarországon 13 nőt családtagja, 11 nőt pedig partnere gyilkolt meg.
   Forrás: Eurostat, 2017 és 2018
2. Családon belüli fizikai és/vagy szexuális erőszak
   A fizikai és/vagy szexuális erőszakot elszenvedő nők 18%-a saját otthonában tapasztalta azt. 
   Az elmúlt öt évben a leszbikus nők 11%-át, a biszexuális nőknek pedig 9%-át bántalmazták fizikailag vagy szexuálisan szexuális irányultságuk miatt.
   Forrás: Az FRA alapjogi felmérése és az LMBTI-személyekről szóló II. felmérés, 2019
3. Zaklatás
   Az elmúlt öt évben a nők 15%-át, az elmúlt 12 hónapban pedig 9%-át érte zaklatás.
   Az elmúlt öt évben a fogyatékossággal élő nők 17%-a, az elmúlt 12 hónapban pedig 7%-a szenvedett el zaklatást .
   Forrás: Az FRA alapjogi felmérése, 2019
4. Online erőszak
   Az elmúlt öt évben a nők 6%-át, az elmúlt 12 hónapban pedig 3%-át érte online zaklatás.
   Az elmúlt öt évben a 16–29 év közötti nők 14%-a, az elmúlt 12 hónapban pedig 9%-a szenvedett el online zaklatást.
   Forrás: Az FRA alapjogi felmérése, 2019
5. A női nemi szervek megcsonkítása
   Nem állnak rendelkezésre adatok.

Az isztambuli egyezmény aktuális helyzete

Az isztambuli egyezmény a legátfogóbb nemzetközi emberi jogi szerződés a nőkkel szembeni erőszak és a családon belüli erőszak megakadályozása és leküzdése témakörében. Magyarország 2014 márciusában aláírta az isztambuli egyezményt, de még nem ratifikálta azt. Sürgős fellépésre van szükség az isztambuli egyezmény félreértelmezésének megszüntetése és a nők elleni erőszak felszámolására irányuló erőfeszítések fokozása érdekében.

A nők elleni erőszak felméréséhez szükséges bizonyítékok hiánya

Nőgyilkosság

A hivatalos jelentések szerint 2020-ban 17 uniós tagállamban 788 nőt gyilkolt meg partnere, családtagja vagy rokona. Magyarországon 2020-ban 18 nőt gyilkolt meg partnere és 11 nőt valamely családtagja.

Forrás: Eurostat, 2020.

Az isztambuli egyezmény aktuális helyzete

Az isztambuli egyezmény a legátfogóbb nemzetközi emberi jogi szerződés a nőkkel szembeni erőszak és a családon belüli erőszak megakadályozása és leküzdése témakörében. Magyarország 2014-ben aláírta az isztambuli egyezményt, de még nem ratifikálta.

EIGE/FRA felmérés

Az Európai Unió Alapjogi Ügynöksége (FRA) és a Nemek Közötti Egyenlőség Európai Intézete (EIGE) nyolc uniós tagállamban (Ciprus, Cseh Köztársaság, Írország, Luxembourg, Magyarország, Németország, Románia, Svédország) felmérést fog készíteni a nők elleni erőszakról, amely ki fogja egészíteni azt az adatgyűjtést, amely az Eurostat vezetésével zajlik a nemi alapú erőszakról és a személyek közötti erőszak egyéb formáiról (EU-GBV) a fennmaradó országokban. Az egységes módszertan használata biztosítja, hogy összehasonlítható adatok álljanak rendelkezésre valamennyi uniós tagállamra kiterjedően. Az adatgyűjtés 2023-ban zárul le, és az eredményeket fel fogják használni a nemek közötti egyenlőség 2024. évi mutatójában az erőszak területének aktualizálásához és a nők elleni erőszak kiemelt témájához.

A lack of evidence to assess violence against women

Femicide

In 2021, 720 women were murdered by an intimate partner, family member or relative in 17 EU Member States, according to official reports. In Hungary, nine women were murdered by an intimate partner, and 10 women were murdered by a family member.

Source: Eurostat, 2021

Violence at a glance

1. Intimate partner violence

   No data is available. Data on intimate partner violence will be updated in 2024 using Eurostat data complemented by the survey on violence against women carried out by FRA and EIGE.
    

2. Sexual harassment at work

   No data is available. Data on sexual harassment at work will be updated in 2024 using Eurostat data complemented by the survey on violence against women carried out by FRA and EIGE.

Istanbul Convention: state of play

The Istanbul Convention is the most comprehensive international human rights treaty on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence. Hungary signed the Istanbul Convention in March 2014, but has not yet ratified it. The Convention has not yet entered into force in Hungary.

The European Council approved the EU’s accession to the Istanbul Convention on 1 June 2023.

EIGE/FRA survey on violence against women

The Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) will carry out a survey on violence against women (VAW II) in eight EU Member States (CZ, DE, IE, CY, LU, HU, RO, SE), which will complement the Eurostat-led data collection on gender-based violence and other forms of interpersonal violence (EU-GBV) in the remaining countries. The use of a unified methodology will ensure the availability of comparable data across all EU Member States. Data collection will be completed this year, and the results will be used to update the domain of violence in the Gender Equality Index 2024, with its thematic focus on violence against women.

A nők elleni erőszak felméréséhez szükséges bizonyítékok hiánya

Nőgyilkosság

A hivatalos jelentések szerint 2021-ben 17 uniós tagállamban 720 nőt gyilkolt meg partnere, családtagja vagy rokona. Magyarországon kilenc nőt gyilkolt meg intim partnere, 10 nőt pedig családtagja.

Forrás: Eurostat, 2021

Pillanatkép az erőszakról

1. Partnerkapcsolati erőszak

   Nem állnak rendelkezésre adatok. A partnerkapcsolati erőszakra vonatkozó adatokat 2024-ben frissítik az Eurostat adatai alapján, kiegészítve az FRA és az EIGE által a nők elleni erőszakról készített felméréssel.
    

2. Szexuális zaklatás a munkahelyen

   Nem állnak rendelkezésre adatok. A munkahelyi szexuális zaklatásra vonatkozó adatokat 2024-ben aktualizálják az Eurostat adatainak felhasználásával, kiegészítve az FRA és az EIGE által a nők elleni erőszakról készített felméréssel.

Az isztambuli egyezmény aktuális helyzete

Az isztambuli egyezmény a legátfogóbb nemzetközi emberi jogi szerződés a nőkkel szembeni erőszak és a családon belüli erőszak megakadályozása és leküzdése témakörében. Magyarország 2014-ben aláírta az isztambuli egyezményt, de még nem ratifikálta. Magyarországon az egyezmény még nem lépett hatályba.

Az Európai Tanács jóváhagyta, hogy az EU 2023. június 1-jén csatlakozzon az isztambuli egyezményhez.

Az EIGE/FRA felmérése a nők elleni erőszakról

Az Európai Unió Alapjogi Ügynöksége (FRA) és a Nemek Közötti Egyenlőség Európai Intézete (EIGE) nyolc uniós tagállamban (Ciprus, Cseh Köztársaság, Írország, Luxembourg, Magyarország, Németország, Románia, Svédország) felmérést fog készíteni a nők elleni erőszakról (VAW II), amely ki fogja egészíteni azt az adatgyűjtést, amely az Eurostat vezetésével zajlik a nemi alapú erőszakról és a személyek közötti erőszak egyéb formáiról (EU-GBV) a fennmaradó országokban. Az egységes módszertan használata biztosítja, hogy összehasonlítható adatok álljanak rendelkezésre valamennyi uniós tagállamra kiterjedően. Az adatgyűjtés idén zárul le, és az eredményeket fel fogják használni a nemek közötti egyenlőség 2024. évi mutatójában az erőszak területének aktualizálásához és a nők elleni erőszak kiemelt témájához.