currently pays 70% of wages during the 24 weeks of maternity leave offered. In order to be competitive, the Hungarian government must mandate that businesses offer a minimum of 52 weeks maternity leave, with 70% of wages paid. This ensures adequate time for the mother to bond with the infant and recuperate from pregnancy, while saving money to be spent on preschool later on. An alternative route to consider when aiming to increase birth rates by supporting working mothers involves offering lower-cost preschools. If the government and/or businesses do not support maternity leave reforms, lower-cost preschools ease the financial burden of having a child, as the mother will be able to return to work more quickly. Following the model of
