One of the greatest contradictions in Central Europe’s labour market is that, while companies complain of labour shortages, qualified people who genuinely want to work are being caught in increasingly rigid selection filters.
Hungary is preparing to elect a new President of the Republic, but the debate is not merely about filling a constitutional office. It is also about whether we understand the nation as a shared political community or as a club belonging to the winners of the latest election.
The modern father is expected to be a provider, an emotionally available partner and an actively involved caregiver at the same time. Yet while his performance is constantly scrutinised, we rarely ask him the simplest question: how is he?
One of the greatest paradoxes of the 21st century is that while we have never had so many technological tools designed to make our lives easier, it has perhaps never been so difficult to truly rest. Silence, idleness and stimulus free downtime are no longer natural states, but increasingly rare social privileges.
Why wage increases alone will not bring social care professionals home. Over the past few years, the idea of returning home has occurred to me more and more often. Not out of nostalgia, and not because of some romantic sense of homesickness. Rather, because I genuinely wanted to believe that one day Hungary might also need the knowledge, professional perspective and practical experience I have gained abroad over the past decade.
In debates about the demographic crisis, we too often ask why young people are not having children. We far less often ask them what kind of world they are expected to start a family in.
Hungary’s demographic debate often asks why younger generations are not having children. A more difficult and perhaps more useful question is what kind of economic and social environment has made family formation feel increasingly risky rather than natural.
Hungary’s demographic crisis is often framed as a problem of individual choice, with younger generations accused of refusing family life and parenthood. Yet the roots of the country’s population decline lie much deeper, in long-term historical, political, and social processes that began decades ago.
On April 12, Hungary voted, and since then young people, many of whom were voting for the first time, have been blamed. Based on earlier turnout rates, young people had not seemed interested in politics, yet this time a significant wave of mobilization took place. I found two possible reasons that may explain this shift, and in this article I examine the social, economic, and other conditions that produced this remarkable level of participation, as well as what shaped young people’s new political consciousness.
In Central and Eastern Europe, the question of social inclusion has remained a recurring policy challenge for decades. In communities facing structural disadvantage, interventions are often built around external programmes, financial support, and institutional solutions. Less often do initiatives emerge that seek to produce lasting change at the local level by relying on internal resources and community-based agency.
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