Hungarian State Treasury

The women’s preferential pensionis considered an old age pension for all purposes. Women are entitled to this pension regardless of their age if they have completed at least 40 years of eligibility period. Only the service period acquired through gainful activity and the service period recognised on the basis of the child-raising allowance are regarded as period of entitlement.

The general rule is that, within the 40 years of period of eligibility, there must be at least 32 years of gainful activity, i.e. the maximum period of eligibility for child-raising benefits within the 40 years is 8 years, but the pension may be based on 40 years of gainful activity.

A different rule applies to women who have raised 5 or more children. In their case, the condition of 32 years of gainful activity within the 40 years of entitlement is reduced by one year for 5 children and by one year for each additional child, up to a maximum of 7 years. Thus, for example, in the case of 5 children, at least 31 years of gainful activity and up to 9 years of service recognised for child-raising are required to establish entitlement within the 40 years of entitlement. Within the 40 years, the condition of service period in gainful activity may be reduced to a maximum of 25 years.

An applicant who has received a child home care fee or a nursing fee in respect of a seriously disabled blood child or adopted child, or who has acquired service entitling as home care fee for children before 1 January 1998, must have 30 years of gainful activity within the 40 years of entitlement.

The following are not considered as periods of eligibility:

• the period of unemployment benefits,
• service periods acquired under an agreement,
• periods of apprenticeship other than compulsory summer internships,
• the period of full-time higher education,
• the first 30 days of unpaid leave, other than for childcare or care, taken before 1 January 1998, which constitute service periods,
• the period of sickness benefit (passive sickness benefit) paid after the termination of the insurance relationship.

The same as for the old age pension, the claim for a women’s preferential pension must be made to the government office acting as the competent pension insurance administration body in the place where the applicant resides, by submitting the form "Claim for old age pension, women's preferential pension, fixed old age pension, benefits prior to retirement age, life annuity for dance artists, transitional annuity for miners".

The pension claim can be submitted in person, by post or electronically.

It can be submitted in person at the customer service of the competent capital or county government office.

If it is submitted by post, the envelope must be marked with name of the government office addressed and the uniform postal address of 1916 Budapest.

Electronically, persons with electronic identification can submit their claim for a pension at www.magyarorszag.hu.

The claim may be submitted by the applicant's legal representative (guardian) or by their authorised representative, accompanied by a document proving the representation.

The contact details of the government offices can be found at www.kormanyhivatalok.hu.

The claim may be accompanied by documents relating to service periods not previously recognised. Such proof may include:

• labour book, certificate of employment, certificate of insurance and health insurance benefits, outworker's book, membership book of agricultural or fishery cooperatives,
• college or university course book, final certificate, diploma, industrial apprenticeship labour book, vocational apprenticeship certificate, certificate of vocational school in health or agriculture, diploma or vocational school student contract for the period before 1998.

The application form can also be completed with the following additional forms:

• the supplementary form for employment details can be downloaded here;
• the supplementary form for self-employment can be downloaded here;
• the supplementary form for children can be downloaded here.

In addition, all documents relating to the service period which may be recognised for the purpose of rising children must be submitted. This may include, for example, the birth certificate of the child, the employer's document relating to unpaid leave granted on account of the child's permanent illness or serious disability, documents relating to the payment of nursing fee or child care allowance for the care and supervision of the child, documents relating to the establishment or payment of child care allowance on the basis of equity, etc.

The administrative time limit is 60 days.

The established pension will be paid by the Pension Payment Directorate of the Hungarian State Treasury within 13 days of the decision being issued.

The earliest date from which a women’s preferential pension may be established is the first day of the sixth month preceding the month in which the claim is submitted, provided that the condition of eligibility, i.e. 40 years of eligibility period, is fulfilled on that date.

The women’s preferential pension is considered an old age pension and its amount is therefore determined according to the rules for calculating the amount of the old age pension. The amount of the old age pension depends on the recognised service periods and the average monthly earnings on which the old age pension is based. The amount of the pension is calculated taking into account the days of service which do not constitute eligibility period.

The amount of the average earnings on which the pension is based is determined on the basis of the earnings or income on which the pension contributions are based, from 1 January 1988 to the date on which the pension is calculated.

The calculation of the women’s preferential pension is also based on the proportional service period. Only the proportionate period of contribution payment may be taken into account if the contribution payment was made for an amount lower than the minimum wage in the following cases:

• part-time employment,
• low tax-bracket entrepreneurs in full-time employment status,
• small taxpayer business status,
• small-scale agricultural producer status.

The amount of the pension shall be calculated in proportion to the period of service taken into account for the calculation and the average monthly earnings, as follows.

Membership of a private pension fund affects the amount of the pension if the applicant has paid contributions to a private pension fund for the period before 1 October 2010 and

• at the time the old age pension is determined, the person is a member of a private pension fund, or
• their membership of a private pension fund has been terminated without the amount in their individual account having been transferred to the State budget.

In this case, the old age pension is calculated at a reduced amount.

In order to receive a full pension, it is allowed to re-join the state pension scheme at the time of claiming the pension or afterwards. In this case, after the transfer, the amount of the old age pension is calculated retroactively to the starting date of the pension without reduction.

No appeal may be lodged. If the decision is unlawful, a statement of claim can be lodged against the decision within 30 days to have it reviewed by the court with jurisdiction over the administrative college of the place of residence.

The letter of claim must be lodged, free of charge, with the pension insurance body which took the decision or sent by registered post. After electronic identification, the claim can also be filed electronically on the https://epapir.gov.hu interface. After entry, in the subject group "Jogorvoslat" the case type "Közigazgatási szerv határozatának bírósági felülvizsgálata iránti keresetlevél benyújtása" should be selected.