Spooked by his country’s declining population, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is trying to boost fertility rates by offering Hungarian women who have four or more children a lifetime exemption from paying income tax. He’s even thrown in favorable mortgage terms for big families along with increased funding for daycare. “In all of Europe, there are fewer and fewer children, and the answer of the west to this is migration,” said Orbán in his annual state of the nation address. The populist leader is blaming Hungary’s falling population numbers on the ability his countrymen have to make higher salaries in western Europe, though critics of his regime believe the political mood of the country is a contributing factor. Orban refuses to consider allowing migration into Hungary as a way to add to the population. In 2015, he gained widespread notoriety during Europe’s refugee crisis by building a wall along the country’s southern border. “We Hungarians have a different way of thinking,” Orban said. “Instead of just numbers, we want Hungarian children. Migration for us is surrender.”
