{"id":162,"date":"2018-11-08T14:06:10","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T12:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/4h4n9.ahang.hu\/en\/?p=162"},"modified":"2019-04-05T15:06:17","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T13:06:17","slug":"home-care-campaign-hungary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/4h4n9.ahang.hu\/en\/campaigns\/home-care-campaign-hungary\/2018\/11\/08\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Care Campaign Hungary"},"content":{"rendered":"
This was an issue that previously was pushed under the carpet. But we won policy change for better, by evoking the solidarity, understanding and compassion of thousands of citizen who previously had been unaware.<\/q><\/div>Dora Papp<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\tWe have done it!<\/h2>\n
We have reached a huge milestone in our effort to have caring for a sick relative at home recognized as a job that warrants the minimum salary. Recently, civil society organizations achieved success that is unprecedented in Hungary: as a result of a widespread social movement born in the wake of a joint campaign by the \u2018L\u00e9pj\u00fcnk, hogy L\u00e9phessenek!\u2019 (Let\u2019s make a move so they can move on) Public Association, the \u2018Csak Egy\u00fctt van Es\u00e9ly\u2019 (We only have a chance together) Group, the aHang (theVoice) platform and Civil College Foundation, the nursing benefit will be raised in every category, with some families receiving 70,000 forints more than they do now (a 200% increase).<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the past years, no other social campaign has achieved a result of such magnitude, improving the lives of tens of thousands of people.<\/p>\n
The Announcement<\/strong><\/p>\n
According to a statement sent to the Hungarian public news agency (MTI) on October 11, the previous day the government decided to raise the amount of the nursing benefit paid after children who have to be nursed at home to 100.000 HUF in all categories.<\/p>\n
Katalin Nov\u00e1k, the state secretary making the announcement, said that they would continue raising the amount in the upcoming years as well, with the goal of having it reach, in three steps by 2022, the level of the minimum wage. The state secretary added that the nursing benefit would also be increased for those families where it is paid after a relative other than children. In such cases, the amount will be raised by 15% next year, and then it will be raised by an annual 5% in 2020, 2021 and 2022. In this way, by 2022 those who look after a relative other than the children, and are eligible to receive the benefit, will receive 30% more than they do now. The state secretary added that families raising more than one disabled child will receive one and a half times the amount.<\/p>\n
Today, it has been proven that if Hungarian people join their forces to address an issue, they can actually win and effect change.<\/p>\n
The Campaign Explodes<\/strong><\/p>\n
Since it started in May, the joint campaign of L\u00e9pj\u00fcnk, hogy L\u00e9phessenek!, Csak Egy\u00fctt Van Es\u00e9ly (CSEVE) Csoport, the Civil College Foundation and aHang has been followed with unprecedented attention and support. In a few days\u2019 time, 50 organizations joined our call and tens of thousands of people signed the petition for having the work of people caring for a sick relative recognized. Supported by the media, in the first phase of the campaign the organizations carried out a sort of sensitizing campaign: they used stories to show what it is like to care for a disabled relative in today\u2019s Hungary.<\/p>\n
Human Stories<\/strong><\/p>\n
For several articles and TV reports, families gave their face and name to present their lives, allowing dry data turn into shocking facts. This was the first time most people learned about the struggle of caring for a sick relative 24\/7, having to live off a benefit that amounts to a maximum of 150 Euros. Between the times the stories were presented, we regularly published research results, data comparisons with foreign countries, and our own analyses. For each media source, we recommended a new family, a new story, a new point of view. The journalists working on the touching stories became committed to the issue, and later helped our work by publishing our further and further press releases on their online surfaces. This is how it happened that after a couple of weeks we were all over the news, and the issue just could not have escaped anybody\u2019s notice.<\/p>\n
The almost daily appearing articles were shared on our social media pages, and the other pieces of content we published on the issue were also extremely popular. When there were no press appearances, we produced our own content (e.g. memes), often publishing them as ads. As a result, activity on our Facebook page increased rapidly.<\/p>\n
Our signatories received weekly mailings of a personal tone from us, with extremely high opening and reaction rates. Many of them answered the emails, and we started personal conversations with them, thus increasing the number of our volunteers who later assisted our work in many ways. Observing how paying attention and being personal in tone can increase the number of people committed to solving an issue was an important experience. Through analyzing data, we identified and contacted people who count as influencers in their own environment. Then, these people were even more active sharing news about our campaign on their own online surfaces.<\/p>\n
The Awakening<\/strong><\/p>\n
In the wake of all this, it came to light that - regarding this issue at least - Hungarian people were not uncompassionate, but uninformed. The vast majority of people did not know that in Hungary today, people who care for their relatives at home 24\/7 receive a maximum of 52,800 Hungarian forints (around 160 Euros) in benefit and their sacrifice does not count as work. In our video featuring five famous men who care for a severely disabled child for a day, Hungarian Olympic fencer G\u00e9za admits: he thought home care had counted as employment for a long time already.<\/p>\n
The actions, videos and demonstrations of the campaigning organizations were received with the utmost attention and sympathy, giving the extremely exhausted and desperate stakeholders strength to carry on. The volunteers involved (who were in most cases directly affected by the issue themselves) collected 5625 signatures in 210 local communities around Hungary, from their fellow stakeholders who do not have Internet access due to their situation.<\/p>\n
A professional campaign<\/strong><\/p>\n
As the renowned political scientist, social policy expert and journalist Zolt\u00e1n Lakner pointed out: one of the greatest strengths of the campaign was the personal tone. Its other great strength was the level of organization and planning. \u201cThis was a rarely seen social campaign that was professional regarding all its elements,\u201d he noted during a recent event of ours and also in an article. \u201cPress appearances, actions, and videos alternated with extremely good dynamics, not allowing people to lose interest or the pressure on decision-makers to ease.\u201d<\/p>\n