<p>President Donald Trump and his team like to paint themselves as trailblazers. But one of their major policies comes straight from Hungary — and that’s a good thing.</p>
<p>The One Big Beautiful Bill Act includes a series of measures designed to encourage the growth of American families. Along with defunding abortion giant Planned Parenthood, the law takes a page out of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s playbook with <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-implementation-timeline-of-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tax credits</a> for parents and childcare as well as <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/how-big-beautiful-bill-gives-american-babies-financial-head-start-future" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Baby Bonuses”</a> for newborns.</p>
<p>Not everyone is pleased with these changes. Some <a href="https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/how-trump-accounts-measure-evidence-early-wealth-building-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">argue</a> that the program will benefit only the rich. But <a href="https://theemancipator.org/2025/05/10/topics/health-equity/trumps-baby-bonus-perpetuates-racist-and-gendered-notions-about-a-womans-worth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">others say</a> that the pro-natalist policies are somehow reminiscent of slavery and that the bill “<a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/07/08/nx-s1-5455647/trump-accounts-babies-what-to-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">structures inequality</a>” because its benefits are only available to citizens.</p>
<p>But we’ve seen this all before.</p>
<p>Over the past 15  years, <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/04/08/exclusive-hungarys-pro-family-policy-working-births-up-9-4-per-cent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Orbán’s government</a> has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/11/have-four-or-more-babies-in-hungary-and-youll-pay-no-income-tax-for-life.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eliminated</a> income taxes for mothers of four or more, granted home loans to parents of two or more, subsidized grandparents acting as caretakers, and pledged the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47192612" target="_blank" rel="noopener">construction</a> of more childcare facilities — all in a bid to grow Hungary’s native-born population and reverse falling birthrates.</p>
<p>Like Trump, Orbán faced plenty of ire from experts regarding the supposed ineffectiveness and dire implications of his natalist policies.</p>
<p>BBC’s Nick Thorpe <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47192612" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> of outsized benefits to the rich. An especially distressed gender studies professor, Eva Fodor, <a href="https://theloop.ecpr.eu/getting-paid-to-have-children-hungarys-carefare-regime/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> that Hungarian policy “redefines Hungarian citizenship” away from“darker-skinned, non-Christian migrants” and toward — <i>quelle horreur</i> — average Hungarian citizens. Still another critic <a href="https://politicalcritique.org/archive/2019/doomed-failure-orbans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> Orbán of having a vendetta against working women.</p>
<p>But let’s take a look at the results of these policies.</p>
<p>After a decade of prioritizing families with tax cuts, subsidies, and generous loans, Hungary <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2020/04/08/exclusive-hungarys-pro-family-policy-working-births-up-9-4-per-cent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reached</a> a 40-year peak in marriages and a 20-year high in fertility rates.</p>
<p>Conversely, divorces hit their lowest rate in six decades. Births increased by 9.4% year on year — an increase the likes of which the United States <a href="https://usafacts.org/articles/how-have-us-fertility-and-birth-rates-changed-over-time/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hasn’t seen</a> since the 1947 Baby Boom. On top of all that, the proportion of babies born to married parents has <a href="https://prolifeworldwide.net/family-pro-life/building-a-family-friendly-hungary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased</a> to 70%, roughly <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/unmarried-childbearing.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10% higher</a> than in the United States.</p>
<p>Especially relevant in a post-<i>Roe</i> America are the effects of Hungary’s pronatalist laws on abortion. Although the procedure has <a href="https://populationmatters.org/news/2025/01/viktor-orbans-hungary-the-erosion-of-reproductive-rights/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remained legal</a> in Hungary up to the 12-week mark for several decades, the number of abortions <a href="https://2015-2022.miniszterelnok.hu/hungarian-government-based-its-family-policy-on-five-pillars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plummeted</a> 41% from 2010 to 2021.</p>
<p>It’s crucial to note that this major drop took place <i>before</i> Hungary <a href="https://balkaninsight.com/2022/09/13/hungary-tightens-abortion-law-by-decree/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banned</a> chemical abortions and began requiring abortion-minded women to listen to their babies’ heartbeats. Given that a full <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3729671/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">40%</a> of women seeking abortions credit financial concerns with their decision, it’s very plausible that the decrease was influenced by the greater financial support Hungary now provides to families, specifically mothers.</p>
<p>Economically, too, Hungary has seen strong results since Orbán began his pro-family crusade in 2010. From 2010 to 2024, the number of Hungarians working and paying taxes <a href="https://prolifeworldwide.net/family-pro-life/building-a-family-friendly-hungary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">swelled</a> by a million people. Further, from 2010 to 2023, Hungary’s per capita GDP grew a remarkable <a href="https://www.hungarianconservative.com/articles/culture_society/revealing-the-facts-a-brief-history-of-the-hungarian-gdp/#:~:text=As%20shown%20in%20the%20graph%2C%20Hungary's%20GDP,66.1%20per%20cent%20of%20the%20EU%20average%2C" target="_blank" rel="noopener">43.9%</a>, dwarfing the European Union member state average of 16.2%.</p>
<p>Could America see comparable successes?</p>
<p>The One Big Big Beautiful Bill Act’s tax credits, cuts to childcare expenses, and Baby Bonus program — together with the Bill’s broader measures such as ending taxes on tips and overtime — may prove key to supporting vulnerable families, empowering expectant mothers, and rebuilding a strong made-in-America economy.</p>
<p>It isn’t too late for the United States to follow Hungary into a brighter future. Our countries may have many differences, but we have very good reason to hope that pronatalist policies will work just as well here.</p>
<p><i>Emily Claire Boulet is a student at the University of Dallas.</i></p>
<p><em>The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.</em></p>

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Hungary Shows How The Big Beautiful Bill Will Help American Families

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Hungary Shows How The Big Beautiful Bill Will Help American Families