A great leap towards liberalism? The Hungarian welfare state

Abstract

The article analyses the changing role of the Hungarian state by examining the principles and boundaries of government commitment in income maintenance. I test the hypothesis that the welfare regime is liberal and is becoming increasingly more so. The empirical analysis addresses three major issues: the reliance on universal schemes in family support, the nature of poor relief assistance, and the institutional structure of the pension system. I find that these different programs do not add up to constitute any specific type of welfare regime. Rather, the emerging, and still transitory welfare system appears ‘‘faceless’’. I claim that a static welfare typology cannot be applied to the Hungarian welfare system and therefore reject the liberal hypothesis.