Demographic Portrait of Hungary 2012 [antikvár]

Three years have passed since the researchers of the Demographic Research Institute at the HCSO wrote and published the previous demographic portrait of Hungary, which discussed the demographic processes characterizing the country. The aim of the 2012 issue is similar: to offer basic knowledge and accurate interpretations supported by data and based on solid scientific analyses for the benefit of all interested in the subject and to do it in a concise and easily understandable way. Our present volume is basically characterized by continuity, i.e., it relies on the previous one preserving its subject matter and structure but it alsó has considerable novelties. The volume similarly consists of 12 chapters covering all major fields of demography, i.e., fertility, nuptiality, mortality, ageing, and migration. The individual articles dealing with these topics concentrate on introducing and interpreting the fundamental processes of the Hungárián society. Others like those dealing with family policy or retirement aim at introducing the current state of the relevant institutional system. Last but not least, we do not omit population projection, either, which is probably the most popular and most debated issue of demography. The structure of the individual articles is uniform this time, too, as far as it is made possible by the limitations posed by the subject and the available data. All topics are discussed in international comparison as we are convinced that this perspective is indispensable for the better understanding of Hungárián phenomena. We find it especially important to compare the Hungárián results not only with those in the Western European countries but alsó with those of the former socialist ones. Although we are interested in current processes (i.e., those of the previous two or three years), it is often indispensable to refer to earlier developments as well, mostly to the period beginning with 1989- 90. Tendencies of still earlier periods are mentioned only in certain special cases. The continuity of topics and perspective raises, however, the problem of whether our previous volume of 2009 is known to the Reader or not. If we postulate previous knowledge, it may be enough to concentrate on the developments of the previous five years. If, however, we want the present volume to be an independent reading in itself, we may often need to repeat ourselves. As we decided for the second option thinking that the volume should be an autonomous summary, several articles contain the extended versions of tables, trends, and interpretations present alsó in the previous book. At the same time, every chapter contains a substantial amount of new information and interpretations. There are two major new approaches that were still missing in the 2009 issue. The first one is the emphasis on régiónál