Changes in Hungarian attitudes

Any change in societal attitudes is a slow affair. Especially in a society as traditional as Hungary. However, there are signs of positive change. Somewhat belatedly I saw this morning a discussion on  "Life over Fifty," a program aired about two weeks ago on ATV. The participants discussed changing attitudes toward aging and older people in general.

One ought to know that in Hungary there is, to my mind, an unhealthy attitude concerning "the golden years." For instance, people at a relatively early age, let's say in their mid-fifties, describe themselves as old. Why is this the case? First, life expectancy in Hungary is rather low: a good six or seven years shorter than in Western Europe. Second, the health of older Hungarians is not the best, to put it mildly. How much of this is due to lifestyle and how much to a less than adequate health care system is not quite clear. Third, the average age of retirement is about fifty-five years, which often marks the beginning of a fairly empty existence.

However, there are hopeful signs. In the last ten years the life expectancy of Hungarians has increased by four years--presumably the result of better drugs, better medical equipment, and the slow spread of knowledge about the basic facts of healthful living. More and more people realize that weight matters and that there is a connection between certain diseases and the lack of exercise. (Although I read not long ago that most people use their car for a half a kilometer trip!) Sooner or later Hungary will catch up with the rest of Europe, and those fifty-five-year-olds who describe themselves as old will live for another thirty years. What will they call themselves then? Methuselahs?

The participants in the discussion were a pollster specializing in market research, an employee of UPC (the cable company and internet provider) in charge of advertising, a TV personality interested in the status of women, especially older women, and a man who is organizing courses for older people on using the internet. All of these people were upbeat. They claimed that, after all, there is a growing older population who can afford the better things in life and who take advantage of such opportunities as organized foreign travel. Older people are more concerned with quality whether it is in clothing, TV sets, or food. Since there are more TV sets in Hungarian homes and an increasing selection of channels, watching television is not a group pastime anymore. The youngsters can watch an action series while the oldsters watch a classic movie. Accordingly, advertisers are able to target groups with a reasonable degree of accuracy.

The Hungarian population as a whole is becoming more demanding. Fifteen years ago people bought the cheapest, no-frills cars. Today they demand more and obviously they feel that they can afford it. All this was music to my ears since we hear only about the alleged economic crisis.

So, after all, Hungary is moving closer to Western European standards, but of course people are impatient. Also many people simply don't see the tremendous improvements that have been made. Today's Hungarians take it for granted that there is a huge array of goods from which they can choose and that, thanks to "information" on television, radio, and in newspapers, they can make more or less intelligent choices. One of the participants mentioned that in the early 80s he managed to get to Paris and went to buy something. He was confronted with so many choices and had no idea of the pros and cons of each brand that he left the store empty-handed. He was simply overwhelmed. A friend of mine had a similar experience in 1979 when she spent half a year in the United States on a scholarship. She told me that she felt almost sick when she first went into an American supermarket. How could she choose between fifty different unfamiliar brands? Hungarians today don't have this problem. When they look back on the Kádár regime with nostalgia I assume they forget about things like not being able to get a telephone line, waiting for years for a car, or an ordinary television set that cost a whole year's salary. Should I continue?

By the way, I heard that the consumer confidence index (Ecostat) improved dramatically in the last few months. It is still not quite up to the 2004 level but almost! If only the politicians would get their senses back, things would continue to improve, I'm sure. 

Comments

[Odin's lost eye]

I am afraid I do not quite agree with you. The shopkeepers with whom I tend to deal are very reluctant or get things which they do not currently stock. I find this annoying. Last autumn I wanted a thermostat to control a heater, could I get one - not on your nelly! and no one would order me one from their supplier. Their attitude seems to be what I sell is what you want and you will buy it. Theyn seem to make no effort to convert a customer into a client.
Mind you I do buy funny things! This is due to my, for Hungary, very strange hobby - I make clocks, small steam locomotives, and submarines. I also do a nice line in 'Scolds Bridles' (to muzzle the wife's mother) prices on application

[kincs]

One reason why people in Hungary are ‘older’ than people of the same age in the West may be not so much physical health as mental outlook. It may that Hungarians of the older generation stopped thinking of themselves as young around the time they got married and started having children, probably before they were 30.
Hungarians who are in their fifties seem older than fifty-somethings in the West, but not older than western fifty-somethings were, say, 25 years ago. The difference, in part, anyway, is that they did not grow up with youth culture. Sure, Hungary had rock and roll, but youth culture wasn’t pervasive here as in the West, where the bulk of the music, movies, advertising and TV programming is aimed at the 18-35 demographic. Not only that, but there doesn’t seem to have been nearly as much nightlife before the late 1980s or so. There may have been late-night bars, but not the array of nightclubs, restaurants, kertbars and concert venues that Budapest has today.
The Hungarian generation growing up these days – even those now in their thirties – will not be ‘old’ in the way that their parents are. They have grown up not only with youth culture, but are more inclined to take care of their health – look at all the gyms that have sprouted up.
The awareness of healthy lifestyles started in the West sometime in the 1970s and just gets bigger all the time. It’s still getting off the ground here. Has any diet book ever been on the bestseller lists in Hungary?
The present generation will also not become ‘old’ until later because they will marry later and have children later, if at all. That is a common pattern in countries that are more urban and affluent, where young women have more options than simply marriage and child-rearing. Hungary is going that way and will indeed catch up with Western Europe sooner or later. It may mean a shrinking population, but that population will be more vibrant and will live longer.

[Eva S. Balogh]

Kincs: "Hungary is going that way and will indeed catch up with Western Europe sooner or later. It may mean a shrinking population, but that population will be more vibrant and will live longer."

Yes, yes! I fully agree with your analysis, but there are hopeful signs. I must say that I was very surprised that, let's say twenty years ago, educated people seemed to have been totally ignorant of simple medical information that in this country is common knowledge. As in most Hungarian families, I have my share of doctor relatives who were amazed how much I know. I told them that this knowledge is no more than one can pick up from the media in this country. I think it was a crime that during the Kádár regime the medical profession, including the ministry of health, paid so little attention to disseminate information about healthier lifestyle and prevention.

I'm trying to convince my older relatives that they could improve their feeling of well being with a little exercise but no one is listening.

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Kincs: "Hungary is going that way and will indeed catch up with Western Europe sooner or later. It may mean a shrinking population, but that population will be more vibrant and will live longer."

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