Social Capital and the Delivery of Social Services in Hungary: Review of Recent Research and Practice

The provision of care in Hungary have changed dramatic since the early 90s, due to many factors, including state or state related institutions no longer having a legal mandate for services and new institutions working in different ways. In addition, changes to care have been strongly influenced by socio-economic changes to settlement size, economic participation rates and social relations within and between households. The position paper investigates what is known about these changes focusing in particular on the care offered to very young children, to those at risk of dropping out of school, to elderly care as well as changing arrangements in the balance between work and life. There is evidence from surveys of civil society that local municipalities in Hungary are increasingly reliant on civic organizations for the delivery of services, particularly those connected with health and education. There is also greater emphasis on the role of organized citizenry in the rejuvenation of rural settlements. The shrinking of certain social networks caused by factors such as out-migration has increased the numbers of disconnected households. There is an increasing number of elderly who cannot rely on their families nor the local authorities for support and care, and an increasing widespread phenomena of self-welfare household. The question to further pursue and for policy makers interested in social cohesion to address, is whether these networks constitute a support that can be built upon for other purposes beyond household consumption?