Some 360,000 people accessed basic social services, while institutions providing long-term residential and temporary placement cared for over 87,000 individuals.

Altogether 202 child welfare centres and 707 local family and child welfare services operated across 668 municipalities in 2025, serving approximately 443,000 people, including 150,000 under the age of 18.

The number of children taken into care has risen steadily since 2000, reaching 34,000 in 2025, the highest in a decade.

Around 35,000 minors were under guardianship at the end of 2025, 8,000 of whom were newly placed. Over 22,000 children lived in children’s homes or with foster families, with two-thirds in foster care. Church-run organisations now provide 69 percent of child protection services, up from state and municipal care.

The system also supports children with special educational needs, who made up nearly one-fifth of those in care. However, the number of foster parents has fluctuated, dropping to 5,400 in 2025, 163 fewer than the previous year.

Among adults, some 360,000 received basic social services last year, with home help being the most common, serving over 95,000 people.

Photo: Pixabay,com
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Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com

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