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International Seminar at the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research: Zooming In On Income Inequality
On 21 March Dr Istvan Gyorgy Toth, Director at the TARKI Social Research Institute, gave an international seminar for a packed house. Toth described the development of within country income inequalities in 30 countries between 1980 and 2010. He used a unique dataset based on country reports delivered within the Growing Inequalities Impacts (GINI) project. Inequalities generally increased in the observed country universe, albeit with significant heterogeneity across countries and country groupings. Members of the previously homogenous group of Central and Eastern European countries ended up in the full spectrum of inequalites in Europe, whereas Nordic countries experienced very substantial inequality increase.
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TÁRKI releases Social Report 2012
With over 20 years of tradition in social reporting, TÁRKI aims to elucidate Hungarian socio-economic trends and their evolution over the last two years. Social Report 2012 provides an overview of the demographic, labour market, income and housing situation of households in Hungary.more...
TARKI is among the world's top think thanks again
TARKI Social Research Institute was ranked again among top think tanks worldwide by "Think Tanks and Civil Society Program" in 2012. For the first time, TARKI appereas in three lists among the top institutions: ranked no 37 among Central and Eastern European think tanks covering all area of research, selected as no 47 of the social policy think tanks and no 71 domestic economy policy think tanks worldwide.more...
István György Tóth presented at the Workshop on Social Observatory Research Program
István György Tóth was a key speaker at the Workshop on Social Observatory Research Program organized by the Research Council of the Sultanate of Oman. The workshop has discussed a Strategic plan of The Research Council of the Sultanate to establish a Social Observatory with the aims of a better understanding of social developments, of setting up a relevant database and a research support system to enhance the development of social research in Oman. The presentation can be downloaded hereHungary: where do we stand in 2012? A conference on economic conditions and social cohesion
Tárki Social Research Institute together with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Budapest Office organised an international conference on social and economic conditions in Hungary in 2012.more...
Plenary presentation by István György Tóth on HSA annual conference
István György Tóth, director of Tárki was one of the keynote speakers on the annual conference of the Hungarian Sociological Association entitled "Progression - Regression" held at Central European University, Budapest on 9th November 2012. The presentation on "Inequalities and social cohesion in Hungary: a birds eye view on developments in the last three decades" can be downloaded here, while the programme of the conference can be found here.Tamás Rudas is the president of European Association of Methodology
Tamás Rudas, member of board of TÁRKI has been elected president of the European Association of Methodology.István György Tóth presented at the 50th Congress of the Hungarian Economic Association
István György Tóth director of Tarki presented a plenary lecture on "Economy, politics, social cohesion" at the 50th Congress of the Hungarian Economic Association. The lecture (in Hungarian) argued that low social capital and widespread distrust (generated also by the hysteric behaviour of political elites) creates serious bottlenecks against any meaningful economic policy choices (and of economic growth) in Hungary. The lecture can be downloaded from here (in Hungarian)
The program of the congress is here (in Hungarian)TARKI researchers presented at the "Migration, demography and labour markets. Long term processes and linkages" conference
Endre Sik and Ágnes Hárs, researchers of TARKI and Kopint-TARKIT presented at the conference entitled "Migration, demography and labour markets. Long term processes and linkages" of the SEEMIG project. SEEMIG is a strategic project aiming to contribute to enhanced datasets and empower policy makers and state officials to develop and implement evidence-based strategies. Endre Sik spoke about the statistics of migration, Ágnes Hárs presented concerning labour markets and migration in Hungary. Download the agenda and the presentations: Conference agenda (pdf, 216 kB) Endre Sik: Doomed to failure - with some chance to success: Migration statistics in the 21st century (pdf, 518 kB) Agnes Hars: Labour Market and Migration Hungary in a comparative perspective (pdf, 4,9 MB)TARKI hosted preview of World Bank's new book on Non-Financial Defined Contribution Schemes
The Swedish Social Insurance Agency and the World Bank organized a conference in 2009 on the Non-Financial Defined Contribution Schemes. The NDC's international career has been rising for years and this mechanism was introduced by several countries in the recent years. The studies of the 2009 conference were published this summer in two volumes by the World Bank in a book titled "Nonfinancial Defined Contribution Pension Schemes in a Changing Pension World". The preview of the book and a panel discussion with the editors and experts in Hungary was hosted by TARKI on the 19th of September in Budapest.Download the program of the event and the summary of the book!
Program of the event Summary of the bookDownload the first volume of the book from the World Bank's open repository:
Volume 1: Progress, Lessons, and ImplementationIstván György Tóth was keynote speaker at a UNICEF seminar on the situation of Turkish children
István György Tóth was a keynote speaker at an Ankara seminar on the situation of Turkish children, organized by UNICEF regional and local offices, together with the Turkish government. Download the agenda and the presentations: Child poverty and child well-being in the European Union (pdf, 626 kB) Turkish child well-being indicators at a glance (pdf, 406 kB) Agenda (pdf, 63 kB)Dávid Kriszta finished ninth in air pistol shooting in London
Dávid Kriszta, our colleague finished on ninth place in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London in Shooting (Women's P2-10m Air Pistol-SH1). Congratulations Kriszta! See Kriszta's official olympic profile!
Launch of the 'ImPRovE' research project
The "Poverty Reduction in Europe: Social policy and innovation (ImPRovE)" research project was launched in March of 2012. The research will develop new tools for monitoring poverty, social policy and social innovative practices. For the first time reference budgets will be computed for several member states.more...
EUBORDERREGIONS workshop in Budapest at TARKI
TARKI hosted a workshop of the EUBORDERREGIONS research project from the 9th to the 11th of May, 2012. The workshop was followed by the "Exploring Borders, Cross-Border Co-operation and European Cohesion" conference on 12th of May.more...
SHARE wave 4 in Hungary
SHARE, a pan-European panel dataset and currently the largest survey in the world, finished its 4th wave. The project follows a 55,000 strong sample of 50+ year old people and provides information on the economic, social and biological process of ageing. Hungary joined the project in the current wave. more...
Roma-non roma test score gap and employment gap analyses based on major TARKI survey series appear in top economic journals
Two recent publications analysing a major TARKI flagship longitudinal survey of roma and non-roma pupils and their families appeared recently in top economic journals. One presents data on roma-non-roma test score gaps based on the Hungarian Life Course Survey (HLCS), while the other uses the same survey to analyse Roma employment patterns.more...
European National Transfer Accounts
National Transfer Accounts (NTA) is a system for measuring economic flows across age at the aggregate level in a manner consistent with National Accounts. These intergenerational flows arise primarily because of a fundamental feature of the economic lifecycle: children and the elderly consume more than they produce through their labour. NTA provides estimates of the components of the economic lifecycle and the interage flows that inevitably arise.more...TÁRKI presented poverty report commissioned by Patriotism and Progress Public Policy Foundation
TÁRKI Social Research Institute and Budapest Institute prepared a report on poverty in Hungary commissioned by Patriotism and Progress Public Policy Foundation, which was presented on the policy conference of the foundation on 29th of March in Budapest.more...
TÁRKI Hosts Mid-Term GINI-conference: "Inequalities and their impacts on European societies"
What are the social, cultural and political impacts of increasing inequalities in income, wealth and education? TÁRKI Social Research Institute hosts the mid-term conference of the "Growing Inequalities' Impacts" research project on the 23-24th of March in Budapest, which answers the question above.more...
TÁRKI hosts OCED report release event - Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising
TARKI Social Research Institute, a frequent contributor to various OECD reports, recently hosted the latest OECD report release event for Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising. On March 22, at Európa Kávéhéz, with introduction by István György TÓTH (Director, Tarki Social Research Institute), Dr. Michael Förster (Senior Policy Analyst: Income Distribution and Poverty, OECD) and Dr. Márton Medgyesi (Researcher, Tarki Social Research Institute) discussed how the gap between rich and poor in OECD countries has reached its highest level for over 30 years, and governments must act quickly to tackle inequality, according this new report.more...
TÁRKI reports on the Concordia Discors research project
TÁRKI Social Research Institute hosted neighbourhood forums for children, parents and policy experts in Kőbánya, Budapest in the Concordia Discors research project. Download the presentations about the forums and the current state of the research after the fieldwork, media and policy analyses.more...
Migrants' chances and opportunities in Hungary
TÁRKI Social Research Institute organized a seminar On March 7th 2012 to present the main findings of the recent research project entitled "Migrants' chances and opportunities in Hungary" carried out in 2011. The summary in English can be dowloaded here, while the presentation can be reached here. To learn more about the research see this website and download the full report here (both avaliable only in Hungarian).TARKI appears on global think tanks' ranking
TARKI Social Research Institute was ranked on the 30th place on the list of The Think Tanks and Civil Society Program among the Top Social Policy Think Tanks in 2011. The program produces the annual Global Go-To Think Tank Index that ranks the leading think tanks with the help of a panel of over 1500 peer institutions and experts from the print and electronic media, academia, public and private donor institutions and policymakers.more...Cultures and/of Globalization - publication from the ENRI-EAST project
New study of Lyudmila Nurse and Endre Sik, titled "Identities and Music: Identity of Place and Cultural Identities of Generations. Hungarian 3G Case Study", has been published in the book "Cultures and/of Globalization". Read and download the table of contents and introduction of the book.more...Support for transnational access to official microdata
The Tarki Databank is pleased to inform the international research community about the first call for research proposals by the FP-7 EU project: Data without Boundaries. To enhance access across borders to official microdata for comparative research, Data without Boundaries provides a unique opportunity to work with confidential data from a number of European countries.For details see the pdf file or please visit the DwB website.
Euborderregions Newsletter
The second newsletter of the EUBORDERREGIONS' project is now available! Stay tuned for up-to-date information from fascinating borderlands "on the edge" of our greater regional Neighbourhood!more...
Summary of year 2011 in TARKI
Warm seasons greetings from the TARKI Social Research Institute! This year was an exciting year for us and we have reason to believe that 2012 will bring much more. more...Indebtedness of households and debt management in Hungary
TARKI Social Research Institute, in cooperation with Habitat for Humanity Hungary prepared a country report focusing on the effectiveness of programs and provisions targeting the prevention and management of indebtedness. Research results reveal that while one in four Hungarians have gotten into arrears with their housing costs and real estate loans, programs and provisions targeting indebtedness have reached only around 10,000 people.more...Our colleague, Kriszta Dávid has qualified for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London!
Our colleague, Kriszta Dávid, has qualified to compete in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London after reaching third place at the 2011 IPC Shooting World Cup in Sydney. Congratulations Kriszta!The Slovak Minority in Hungary - new TARKI report in the ENRI-EAST project
TARKI's report gives a comprehensive overview about the Slovak minority in Hungary. The report summarizes Hungarian and Slovakian minority relations, the main findings of the ENRI-VIS survey and includes all biographical interviews.more...Population aging and the generational economy: A global perspective
TARKI senior researchers Róbert Iván Gál and Márton Medgyesi were contributors to the 2011 book Population ageing and the generational economy: A global perspective produced by Edward Elgar Publishing.more...Child Well-Being in the European Union - Better monitoring instruments for better policies
TÁRKI Social Research Institute has prepared a background paper for the Hungarian EU presidency that aims at contributing to the child mainstreaming process within the European Union through the improvement of monitoring tools in the field. The background paper is available now online.more...The report was presented at the 14 June ISG meeting.
PresentationProfessor Tamás Rudas, academic director of TARKI, was awarded the Academic Award
TARKI Social Research Institute proudly announces that Professor Tamás Rudas was awarded the Academic Award by the president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for eminent scholarly work on analyses of categorical data and fitness of log-linear models. Professor Rudas is a Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, head of the Department of Statistics at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University as well as academic director of TARKI Social Research Institute.GINI - Growing Inequalities' Impacts
TÁRKI participates in major inequality research in Europe: GINI - Growing Inequalities' Impacts (FP7, DG Research, Contract no. SSH-CT-2010-244592). The core objective of GINI is to deliver what are the social, cultural and political impacts that increasing inequalities in income, wealth and education may have? For the answers, GINI combines an interdisciplinary analysis that draws on economics, sociology, political science and health studies, with improved methodologies, uniform measurement, wide country coverage, a clear policy dimension and broad dissemination.More...
Social Situation Observatory
TÁRKI, as a member of a consortium lead by Applica, Brussels (other consortium members: University of Essex and Eurocentre, Vienna) produces annual monitoring reports on trends of income distribution and social inclusion in Europe. The reports cover general income distribution trends, poverty and social inclusion as well as analytic work on causes and main determinants.More...
Workshop about Conditional Cash Transfers
Tárki has organised a workshop about activating social policies on 7th May 2010. The World Bank book on Conditional Cash Transfers has been presented and discussed. Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai addressed the conference with a speech on "Breakaway from poverty - mutual responsibility".More...
Study on Child Poverty and Child Well-Being in the EU
Children are an especially vulnerable group because of their dependent status and because they can only partly influence their own well-being. They are also our future: lack of opportunities during childhood all too often will have long-term consequences for the individuals concerned and for society as a whole. Swift action will instead pay off now as well as bear fruit in the years to come by breaking the vicious cycle of the inter-generational transmission of poverty.Combating child poverty and improving child well-being have therefore become key issues on the policy agenda of the EU and Members States. Following the work carried out in 2007 and 2008 by the European Commission and the Member States in the context of the European Strategy for Social Inclusion, notably the report prepared by the EU Task-Force on Child Poverty and Child Well-Being, a new study has been launched this year to contribute to the development of more coherent and integrated policies in this area. The study was carried out by TARKI Social Research Institute (Budapest), in collaboration with Applica (Brussels).
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TÁRKI European Social Report 2009
This book, the second in the series, seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the similarities and differences between the European societies of the enlarged European Union. The report concentrates on the perceptions, opinions and attitudes of Europeans. From the wide range of potential issues we selected those fields that are most relevant to economic activity.read more...
European Inequalities: Social Inclusion and Income Distribution in the European Union
This book summarizes four years of research on social inclusion and income distribution across the European Union carried out in the framework of the European Observatory on the Social Situation and Demography, which has been established by the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of the European Commission.read more...
TÁRKI Lifepath Analysis of Hungarian Households: a 2007 update of the Hungarian Household Panel 1992-1997
TÁRKI has completed a follow-up research of the Hungarian Household Panel (the flagship Hungarian panel survey covering a 2600 initial sample of households and the individuals living in them). The study aimed at monitoring the labour market, income, wealth and opinion changes of the original sample after 15 years of the base survey and 10 years of the last wave, with a success of being able to complete interviews with almost 2700 individuals.Download project summary (pdf)
Project website: http://www.tarki.hu/hev/
Download the full Hungarian report (pdf)
More on the Hungarian Household panel Survey: http://www.tarki.hu/en/projects/social/index.html#hhp
TÁRKI Social Report 2008
The series of social reports monitor the economic, social and political developments of the Hungarian society in both time series and comparative perspective. The most recent issue of the biannual series (in Hungarian) is out in bookstores or can be purchased via http://www.tarsadalomkutatas.hu/Growing Unequal? Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD countries
TÁRKI has participated in a major OECD study on income distribution and poverty. The report - entitled "Growing Unequal?" - covers all OECD countries and addresses various topics, such as the extent and evolution of income inequalities, the main drivers of inequalities, the characteristics of poverty, and additional features of inequality such intergenerational mobility and the distribution of household wealth. TÁRKI has been the provider of the Hungarian data on income inequality and poverty and also provided expertise on European income distribution. The press material and selected tables can be downloaded from http://www.oecd.org/els/social/inequality (the entire report is downloadable only for subscribers).TÁRKI European Social Report
This new study prepared and published by TÁRKI Social Research Institute provides an overview of demographic, labour market, income and housing situation of households in Europe. The basic data source used is the "Community Statistics on Income and Living Conditions" survey of the European Union (EUSILC) of 2005, accompanied by a number of other sources with a Europe-wide focus.
Download the whole report (pdf)Download by chapters:
Cover page (pdf)Contents, executive summary (pdf)Chapter 1 (Demography) (pdf)Chapter 2 (Labour market) (pdf)Chapter 3 (Income distribution) (pdf)Chapter 4 (Housing and material conditions) (pdf)TÁRKI has a strong tradition of social reporting that aims to elucidate Hungarian and European socio-economic trends and their evolution over time. Earlier series of social reports include:
Social Report Series
TÁRKI Household Monitor Report
Changing roles
An overview of the TÁRKI social reporting activities can be viewed here
TÁRKI Household Monitor Report 2008: 'Distri-Burden'
The TÁRKI Research Institute is pleased to present the latest in its long-running series of surveys, which offer a rich source of data for research into the Hungarian people's income and labour market position, and for investigations into household budgets, saving patterns and public attitudes to a wide range of subjects.
more (pdf) see Hungarian version (pdf)
Inequalities in EU countries - results based on OECD methodology
In October 2007, TÁRKI prepared a research note on income inequality and poverty in the enlarged EU. This research note used the most recent database suitable for international comparative research, the EU Community Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU SILC), year 2005, which was made available for research by the data use contract between Eurostat and TÁRKI. Analysis of income inequality and poverty was based on the methodology elaborated by OECD.
open research note (pdf)
Ex Ante Evaluation of New Hungary Development Plan
The National Development Agency (NDA) commissioned a consortium led by TÁRKI Social Research Institute (sub-contractor: Kopint-Datorg) to prepare a horizontal evaluation of the effects of the priority axes and interventions defined in the Operational Programmes of the New Hungary Development Plan, according to the criteria set out in the invitation to tender. The horizontal dimensions analysed in the course of the evaluation are as follows: long-term economic development, long-term employment, public finances, disadvantaged social groups and social distribution. A separate executive summary belongs to the evaluation report.
open executive summary (pdf)
Is Social Europe Fit For Globalisation?
A study on the social impact of globalization in the European UnionThe SIMGLOBE study, carried out by a consortium (members: CEPS, Brussels, Bocconi University, Milano, Nottingham University, Nottingham, DIW, Berlin, an TÁRKI, Budapest) led by CEPS, tries to answer the question if social Europe is fit for globalization. It consists of three main parts. The first looks at the background, the facts and the figures about globalisation. The second part focuses on the social dimension, including extensive documentation of EU social conditions, together with more specific work on migration and trends in inequality. The third part then concentrates on the policy challenges. The report (commissioned by the Unit for Social and Demographic Analysis, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of the European Commission) can be downloaded directly from the DG Employment website.
open executive summary (pdf - ec.europa.eu) 
open full report (pdf - ec.europa.eu) Release of EU8 Social Inclusion Study
The papers prepared for the EU8 Social Inclusion Study have been posted on the website below. These include papers on social assistance and social exclusion in the first wave of new member states and case study reports prepared by research teams in Hungary, Poland and Estonia.
more
TÁRKI, the Social Research Center
TÁRKI has 25 years' experience of empirical social science research in Hungary. Its background includes research on a wide range of issues related to social stratification, labour markets, income distribution, consumption and lifestyle patterns and attitudes, and it has increasingly focused on market research applications. There are various types of research activities that TÁRKI carries out for its clients, but social research is the most important part of its work. This includes:
