'Just trying to survive' – Human Rights Watch releases report on plight of Hungarian pensioners

The Hungarian government is failing to ensure older people’s rights to social security and an adequate standard of living, including access to sufficient food, medicine, and energy, Human Rights Watch has found, according to its report published on Wednesday. “Hungary’s insufficient social security system forces many older people to choose whether to spend their meager pensions on food, medicine, or heating, and which essential item to do without” – Kartik Raj, senior Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch said.

The international human rights organization pointed out that, according to official statistics, as of the end of 2024, more than two-thirds of Hungarian pensioners received pensions below the gross minimum wage, and nearly a quarter received pensions that fell below the official poverty line. Both the number and proportion of women in this group are higher. Nearly one-fifth of elderly women are at risk of poverty, the organization said.

“The plight of older people in Hungary is at odds with the government’s repeated claims that it prioritizes the wellbeing of “ordinary Hungarians,” Human Rights Watch said. The organization’s report also noted that these claims come amid international concern over Hungary’s anti-democratic rule and widespread violations of liberties and freedoms”.

“People who have millions can’t imagine this life, when you have nothing to spend and are just surviving,” a 90-year-old woman who worked in a state-owned textile company and then ran a state shop in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, until she retired in 1991 told the organization. She added that someone “who worked for 40 years shouldn’t have to live like this. We need a more equal pension system.”

The organization suggested that Hungary should urgently review the adequacy of pension levels, in order to reduce pension inequality, the lowest pensions should be raised, and the rights of all older people in the country to social security and an adequate standard of living should be guaranteed. “In particular, the government should take immediate steps to ensure that no one is left without adequate nutritious food, sufficient energy to warm their home, and necessary medication and supplies to ensure their health”, they said.

Raj called the one-time food vouchers for pensioners which were recently handed out and “the hastily legislated extra month’s pension” mere “band-aids to address Hungary’s open wound of rising pensioner poverty”. He further opined that “if the Hungarian government genuinely cares about older people’s right to social security, it should urgently increase low pensions, take decisive steps to make the system more equitable, and ensure that all older people in the country can afford a decent, dignified living standard.”