Young people say
HUF 500,000 a month
is needed to get by

Young Hungarians plan their future consciously, work actively and stand on several financial legs — yet for one in three respondents making a living is a challenge, and only one in four young people is confident of fully achieving their goals from their own resources. The ideal monthly incomeHUF 500,000is where the majority of young people put it.

Ifistart’s fresh survey, conducted with nearly 500 young people (the 18–35 age group), gives a comprehensive picture of the current life situation, financial habits and future goals of young Hungarians. Based on the results, a significant proportion of young people plan their future consciously, yet many feel achieving their goals from their own efforts is only partly realistic.

Conscious goals, practical priorities

More than half of respondents named, as their most important goal for the next five years,completing their studies or acquiring marketable knowledge. Nearly four in ten young people plan to buy their own car, while one in three respondents set a higher-value trip or saving as a goal. Classic life goals — such as a wedding or having children — are currently pushed into the background; roughly 20 percent of respondents are thinking about these.

Young people are relatively optimistic about achieving their goals. About a quarter of respondents feel they have a good chance of realising their plans from their own resources, while every third young person sees only partial possibility for this. At the same time, the proportion of those who consider achieving their goals completely hopeless is particularly low.

Work and study in parallel

The survey highlights that nearly a third of young people are still studying, whilemore than a fifth also work alongside their studies. And every third respondent already works full-time. This indicates that the majority of young people are early active participants in the labour market and seek to generate their own income.

Regarding the ideal monthly net income, a significant proportion of respondents consider an amount close to HUF 500,000 sufficient, which clearly shows the rise in expenditure needed for living. According to the survey,food is one of young people’s most significant monthly expenses— 40 percent of respondents named it as their biggest cost. Housing is also the most significant expense for every fourth young person.

Support schemes as untapped opportunities

Although two-thirds of young people look for information online,90 percent of them have not yet heard of the Ifistart.hu portal, which gathers the available support specifically for them. Currently only one in eight young people uses some form of support.

For those who do take advantage of the opportunities offered by support, however, these mean tangible help. Nearly half of respondents receive a small but stable monthly supplement, whileevery third young person can save an amount of even between HUF 50,000 and 100,000by taking advantage of the opportunities due to them.