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1. National Programme for Youth Volunteering

2. Funding

3. Characteristics of youth volunteering

4. Support to young volunteers

5. Target groups

National Programme for Youth Volunteering

In Hungary, there is no dedicated national programme for youth volunteering. However, the school community service (iskolai közösségi szolgálat) functions as the primary, nation-wide, state-organised, and mandatory framework for youth engagement that meets the core criteria of a national programme.

The school community service was introduced in 2011 and is compulsory for all secondary school students. This mandatory framework is legally established by the Act CXC of 2011 on National Public Education (2011. évi CXC. törvény a nemzeti köznevelésről). The Ministry of Culture and Innovation (Kulturális és Innovációs Minisztérium) sets the strategic policy for the programme and the Educational Authority coordinates the programme. Various actors participate in the operation of the school community service: the secondary schools nominate internal coordinators to manage students, while a diverse range of host organisations - including NGOs, state and municipal institutions and churches - provide the necessary voluntary opportunities. Furthermore, the network of Civil Public Service Centres (Civil Közösségi Szolgáltató Központok) offers live local support and consultation to these host organisations.

The programme can be carried out in the following areas: health care, social area and charity, environment and nature conservation, disaster recovery, education, culture and community development, sports and leisure time with children, and crime and accident prevention.
As the completion of 50 hours of service is a mandatory prerequisite for the secondary school leaving examination, participation rates remain about 100% among the relevant age group (15–18-year-old). (For more information see 9.4)

Funding

The funding of youth volunteering in Hungary, especially the school community service, follows a decentralised model. There is no single, dedicated state budget for 'national youth volunteering'; instead, funding is integrated into various sectoral allocations.

The budget of the Ministry of Culture and Innovation and the Educational Authority provides the major funding for the administration and monitoring of the programme. This covers the operational costs of the official portal of the programme, the professional training for coordinators, and the national monitoring. Schools manage the programme from their general operational budgets (normative funding), as the service is unpaid and does not involve fees for participants.

The National Cooperation Fund (Nemzeti Együttműködési Alap) is the most relevant actor worth mentioning, as an actor that can also provide support for youth volunteering projects, including host organisations of the school community service. Youth-related projects mainly financed through the College for the Future of New Generation (Új nemzedék Jövőjéért Kollégium) and College for Social Environment (Közösségi környezet kollégium). (For more information see 2.2.)

Furthermore, resources are occasionally available to specific youth groups for voluntary activities. In 2025, the 'Profession with Heart and Soul' ('Szívvel lélekkel szakmát') grant application was launched within the framework of Children and Youth Fund (Gyermek és Ifjúsági Alapprogram). This initiative allowed vocational training institutions and vocational centers to apply for funding to implement voluntary and public service activities, specifically aimed at involving students in solidarity projects.

Characteristics of youth volunteering

In Hungary, on one hand, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office collects data on youth volunteering but there is only a little information available on youth volunteering. The latest data comes from the Labour Force Survey conducted in 2023, which shows that 27% of 15–24-year-olds and 25% of 25–34-year-olds participated in voluntary activities in that year. On average, 15–24-year-olds reported 35 hours of activity, while 25–34-year-olds reported 54 hours in the last 12 months.

On the other hand, there are research reports on youth volunteering. According to the results of the 'Voluntarism in Hungary 2018' (Önkéntesség Magyarországon 2018) survey, the proportion of young people volunteering was in a slightly increasing trend: one third of the surveyed young people indicated that they had done volunteer activities in the past year and another ten per cent said that they had had some experience, if not in the past year, then in the past.

The findings of the 'Voluntarism in Hungary 2023' research have not yet been published. Based on the information available in professional journal articles, it is not possible to make accurate statements about the proportion of young people who volunteer.

Support to young volunteers

While there is no specific support scheme for youth-related voluntary activities, the legal framework for volunteering, the Act LXXXVIII of 2005 on Public Interest Volunteer Activities and the legislation regulating school community service (iskolai közösségi szolgálat), provides comprehensive measures to reduce expenses and ensure the safety of participants.

The act defines the types of financial and material support concerning voluntary activities. The host organisations can provide various reimbursements to volunteers, which are not considered as taxable income. There are specific support types that specifically help reduce barriers for young people such as the host organisation can provide reimbursement for travel expenses to and from the site of volunteering and, if necessary, accommodation costs. The support can also include the provision of food or meal vouchers or the provision of protective clothing, uniforms, or necessary materials for the voluntary task. Costs related to the preparation and training of the volunteer are also covered by the host organisation.

The protection of young volunteers is a priority in the formal sector. The law also requires host organisations to provide liability insurance for volunteers when the activity involves risks or third-party interaction. While it is not always mandatory, most public interest host organisations provide accident insurance to their volunteers. Furthermore, in Hungary, all students (the main group of youth volunteering) are entitled to state health insurance by law. Therefore, volunteering does not affect their basic health coverage. For students performing the 50–hour school community service, the secondary school and the host organisation must sign a cooperation agreement that explicitly defines the person responsible for the student's safety and the conditions of the placement.

Target groups

In Hungary, while there is no single law dedicated to youth volunteering, the policy framework identifies specific target groups through legal protections, mandatory educational requirements, and social inclusion initiatives.

The primary legal regulation, the Act LXXXVIII of 2005 on Public Interest Volunteer Activities (Volunteer Act) (2005. évi LXXXVIII. törvény), specifically defines the ability of minors (under the ages of 18 and 16) to participate in voluntary activities. These provisions aim to ensure that voluntary work does not negatively affect students' physical, mental, or moral development or their school attendance. There are also protective restrictions regarding the volunteering hours: under the age of 18, young people should not pursue public interest volunteer activities between 8 pm and 6 am, and a volunteer under the age of 16 is prohibited from volunteering abroad. For that age group the time spent on public interest volunteer activities is also limited: they should not work more than 3 hours per day during vacation and 2 hours per day on school days.

Beyond legal protections, current initiatives identify various priority groups within the youth population. In the school community service (iskolai közösségi szolgálat), the 15–19-year-olds is a primary target group for socialisation and active citizenship. Recent programmes funded by the European Union (EFOP Plusz) specifically target young people Not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEETs) and those living in disadvantaged regions. These measures aim to use volunteering as a tool for skill development and reintegration into the labor market.

The definition of the youth target group also varies across different administrative and research contexts. The previous National Volunteer Strategy 2012–2020 (Nemzeti Önkéntes Stratégia 2012–2020) defined 18–26-year-olds as youth. The Hungarian youth surveys conducted every four years between 2000 and 2020 focus on the 15–29-year-olds, and from 2024 onwards, they will focus on the 15–34-year-olds. The Hungarian Central Statistical Office often analyses the 'young volunteers' as everyone under the age of 35, providing a broader demographic perspective for longitudinal studies.