Kováts Bence: The Financialisation of Housing and Housing-related Family Support in Hungary
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6. Trends and determinants of parental support after the regime change
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6.1. General trends
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6.1.3. The structure of parental support

6.1.3. The structure of parental support

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As expounded earlier, respondents of the housing surveys could report a maximum of three types of support provided to their children. Between 2003 and 2015, a decrease in the diversity of support can be noted. We can see that the average amount of types of support provided to children dropped by 2015 even though in 2015 there were additional categories of support in the database (see Figure 10).

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Though earlier case studies of parental support do not record the provision of all types of it in such detail, data on the share of financial support and the provision of a dwelling were recorded together as one category of financial support in the literature. The roughly 25% of parent households providing it is a somewhat low number among semi-peripheral countries and contrasts with evidence recorded by Medgyesi (2007, p. 102) (see Table 2).
 

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Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Figure 10. The number of types of support provided to adult child(ren) living independently.
 

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In the distribution of different types of support, a radical change between 2003 and 2015 can be witnessed (see Table 2 and Figure 11). In line with findings of the previous chapter, both surveys reported that financial support was far more frequent than any other type of support, with around the third of support-providing respondent households helping their adult children this way. Moreover, it dynamically increased between 2003 and 2015. The provision of financial support and labour together, if combinations are treated as separate types, was the second most popular type of support in 2003 which, however, significantly decreased by 2015. Similarly, labour support, much less significant than finance already in 2003, dropped by around a fourth.

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An even harsher drop characterises living with parents temporarily in the past, which almost completely disappeared by 2015. The provision of a plot, attic or part of building formerly not for habitable use was rare among respondents of both surveys, but it decreased after 2003. The provision of a dwelling became somewhat more frequent and became the second most popular kind of support in the 2015 sample, not counting the “other” category.

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The most plausible explanation for the rise of financial support could be that as public housing provision virtually diminished during the give-away privatisation in the 1990s and self-building became more restricted by more rigorous building regulations, housing access through the resale market or professional developers grew, and this required more reliance on cash. Weakening family ties, more fragile marriages may have also contributed to the increase of more accountable financial support over labour which is less accountable and requires a closer parent-child relationship. Furthermore, the fall of self-build was complemented with the post-regime change expansion of specialised firms carrying out construction works that limited the reliance on labour support in housing renovation as well, resulting in a decreasing labour figure.
 

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Table 2. Share of different types of support among households with adult children living independently, %
2003
2015
Could not
40.8
32.0
Did not need to
24.5
31.7
Financial
11.2
15.7
Plot, attic
1.9
1.6
Dwelling
3.0
4.0
Temporary accommodation
2.3
0.3
Labour
3.8
2.8
Financial + dwelling
0.7
1.1
Financial + temporary accommodation
1.1
0.3
Financial + labour
5.8
3.4
Temporary accommodation + labour
1.6
0.2
Other combinations
3.3
6.8
Total
100
100
N
5475
3349
Missing
3306
6432
 

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The relatively high figure of the provision of a dwelling needs further examination as it is unclear to what extent this category consists of the transfer of ownership rights to children with the retainment of usufruct rights of the dwelling by parents, a de facto bequest recorded in advance. However, even if a part of dwelling provisions are actually preliminarily recorded quasi-bequests, a presumably significant part of these transactions form part of a strategy to turn financialisation to the family’s advantage: housing price appreciation makes investment in real estate favourable and parental gifts can be utilised most if provided in the form of a dwelling. Also, by providing a dwelling, parental control accompanying parental support can be exercised in the subtlest and most effective way as parents can choose the location, type, and possibly the design of the dwelling and influence life decisions of their children.
 

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Jegyzet elhelyezéséhez, kérjük, lépj be.!

Figure 11. Distribution of types of parental support provided.
 

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The disappearance of the provision of temporary accommodation by parents is striking as all other data sources reported an increase in intergenerational co-residence in the past two decades. A likely cause behind this change is the fact that intergenerational co-residence has become rarely temporary. The economic shock of the 1990s generated an abrupt change in the housing situation of many households. Such conditions brought about by the regime change are likely to have increased the number of parents temporarily accommodating their adult children.

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The changing structure of parental support towards the dominance of financial support and the provision of a dwelling amidst the sharp decrease of labour support and temporary accommodation signals the decrease of self-build and the rising significance of housing access through the market. As case studies from both SE and CEE suggest, housing access through self-build rests upon the limited engagement and lenient attitude of the state which allows builders to surpass advanced and costly construction methods (and sometimes the purchase of land) (Hegedüs, 1992; Allen et al., 2004; Tsenkova, 2009, 2010; Stephens, Lux and Sunega, 2015; Kováts, 2021, 2022). However, the turn towards financial support suggests that parental support is transforming into more market-compatible types. Hence, parents unable to provide finance and supporting their children’s housing access through labour are likely to be unable to provide support of the same utility as in earlier decades.

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H2 is confirmed as all of its subhypotheses are confirmed by empirical evidence. In the 12 years between the two surveys, labour support significantly decreased. Based on Farkas and Székely (2001) the narrower category of construction support decreased even more dramatically than the wider category of labour support also including support in renovation. Financial support has grown at a high pace. Survey data are not appropriate to trace the development of intergeneration co-residence as they only recorded its subtype. However, EUROSTAT data displayed on Figure 5 in Section 4.2.2 suggest co-residence increased until the crisis and stagnated afterwards, confirming H2b.
 
 
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