Identifying child care as one of the major economic concerns of Northern Ireland, U.S. Special Envoy Joseph P. Kennedy III said in response to a question from Newsmax on Tuesday that he will study the Hungarian government's approach to the issue.
"We'll take a look at it," said Kennedy, who spoke to reporters and representatives of the Irish and British communities at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
For more than a decade, the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invested 5% of Hungary's Gross Domestic Product in its pro-family agenda.
Part of the agenda, spelled out by then-Minister of Family and Youth Katalin Novak in March of 2019, includes the eventual building of 70,000 new child care centers to provide care for children whose parents wish to return to work.
Other policies, which were enhanced and expanded under Hungary's Family Protection Action Plan "to correct Hungary's demographic decline," include paid leave of up to three years for mothers and fathers with a guaranteed similar level upon return to work and and making every young married couple eligible for an interest-free loan of $35,000.
"We are on the right path," said Novak, who has since become Hungary's first woman president.
While interested in the Hungarian child care policy, Kennedy said that a major reason Northern Ireland is having difficulty expanding its own child care policy is "the considerable financial pressure" that part of the United Kingdom has been under in recent years.
"But something needs to be done," he quickly added, noting that philanthropy may assist in the expansion of child care. "We will work things out with the fiscal realities. The kids are worth it."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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