Youth work in Hungary fits into the discontinuous traditions of youth policy. Its current understanding was predominantly created by Mobilitás National Youth Service that existed as the methodological and infrastructural background to youth work between 1995 and 2013. Since then, most of the methodological development and knowledge base of youth work has been supported through institutions maintained by EU-funds, but from 2023 on, no such infrastructure exists. Since 2003, there have been various forms of formal training programmes for youth workers, but the prestige and recognition of the youth profession is still not comparable to other fields of education.

In Hungary, there is no official definition of youth work. The National Youth Strategy referred to youth work as one of the key youth services contributing to youth development, but the strategy expired in 2024, and is no longer in effect. In more recent government documents, youth work is often understood in the context of municipal (community) coordination (after the change of the name of the education programme), but the EU terminology of youth work appears more and more frequently in policy discourses, following the strategic documents.

As of 2025, youth work in Hungary has three pillars, three organisational modes. Specific 'grassroots' youth communities can be identified at the local (small scale) level. There are numerous NGOs and civil organisations (including the scouting movement and other religious youth organisations) active in the field. These are typically project-funded by the central government or by EU grants. Finally, the public infrastructure exists, coordinated by the Deputy State Secretariat for Young People in the Ministry of Culture and Innovation (Kulturális és Innovációs Minisztérium). The public pillar of youth work includes services maintained by municipalities as well. At the municipal level, the provision of youth-related tasks is mandatory; however, there is no normative support or clear legal definition of what constitutes 'youth tasks'. As a result, the implementation of these tasks varies widely.

The current youth worker's education is at BA level; however, the name of the programme does not contain youth work. The Youth Community Coordination specialization of the Community Coordination BA (Közösségszervezés BA) programme serves as the formal educational background to youth work.