CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2013
| Author | Szemző, Hanna |
|---|---|
| Title | THE HUNGARIAN PENSION SYSTEM, 1948-1990. WELFARE AND POLITICS IN A SOCIALIST COUNTRY IN ITS EUROPEAN CONTEXT |
| Summary | The year 1951 marked the passing of the first general pension legislation during socialism and with that the establishment of the socialist pension system in Hungary. What emerged was a system retaining the merit-based character of the former pension regulations but modifying the eligibility criteria, the pension values and the institutional structure of the provision. Over the years the successive changes meant that pension evolved from a relatively insufficient provision available to a limited number of people to a sum that was aimed at enabling all pension-aged Hungarians to lead a relatively decent life. The dissertation follows the unfolding of this process. It offers a nuanced narrative of the evolution of the pension system in the period between 1948 and 1990, bringing macro and micro level analysis together. It focuses on how particular decisions were conceived and executed and what roles did the various levels of political decision making played in bringing about them. The dissertation also highlights how the expectations about pension and the state’s responsibility for financial wellbeing in old-age evolved throughout the period. It argues that the pension system was used in a strategic political manner throughout the entire history of socialist Hungary. Early on the pension system started to shed its preference for workers and employees – an inheritance from the interwar period – in an attempt to placate the agricultural sphere following the forced collectivization. Later the increasing pension values were used to strengthen the legitimacy of the regime. And finally, during the regime change the pension system was expanded in order to curtail unemployment and social unrest. The dissertation also contends that while conceiving the new measures and regulations, decisionmakers tried to live up to different and often contradictory expectations. On the one hand, economic considerations played a very important role during the entire period: not only was long-term sustainability an aspect always considered, but the pension system was used from very early on to achieve the regime’s particular economic goals and to assist its workforce management. On the other hand, considerations about the financial wellbeing of the pensioner population just as well as about the growing state responsibility with regard to old age were also present, and these considerations often overrode the financial and economic ones. Finally, the development of the Hungarian pension system is placed in a larger European context, using examples both from other socialist and non-socialist countries to show the extent to which Hungary – with respect to pension provisions, at least – fit in the general trend of European welfare state development after the Second World War. |
| Supervisor | Bodnár, Judit; Zimmermann, Susan |
| Department | History PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2013/hphszh01.pdf |
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