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 was supported through institutions maintained by EU-funds, but since 2023 no such infrastructure exists. Since 2003, there have been various forms of formal training 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 (Nemzeti Ifjúsági Stratégia) refers to youth work as one of the youth services that play a key role in the development of youth. In more recent Government documents, youth work is often understood in the context of municipal 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 2024, 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).

There is no independent national strategy for youth work. Nevertheless, the National Youth Strategy contains a sub-chapter calling for better recognition of youth work, the development of a catalogue of criteria for youth work at local level and the strengthening of the educational goals of youth work.

The current youth worker education is on 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.