300,000 Hungarian parents raise their children alone. Their number has doubled over the past four decades. There are more than 500,000 children living in single-parent families today. Although the next school year is expected to start in a traditional classroom setting, the lockdown period has highlighted the importance of reliable mobile and internet services in the life of families.
In response to that, the Single Parent Center (Egyszülős Központ) and Telenor have signed an agreement under which the operator now offers a discount tariff to single-parent families using its mobile and internet services. This tariff aims to ensure that both parents and the separated parent and their children keep in touch in those families.
Cheaper tariffs offer valuable assistance as every second single-parent family struggles with financial difficulties. Under the agreement, families can make voice calls and use the internet at a lower rate which makes it easier for separated parents to remain part of their children’s lives. In the future, the tariff can also help the children of single parents to participate in education and stay connected also if their school goes online from time to time.
Children use more and more internet both for learning and leisure. It is important for parents to manage their children’s online usage responsibly which is even more difficult for those raising their children alone. Single-parent families joining Telenor’s fleet get free access to the “TudatosNet tudáspakk” knowledge base to help them keep their children safe in the online environment.
The Single Parent Center of Budapest was opened in May 2018 to provide practical assistance and community support for single-parent families. In the past three years, the organization reached more than 19,000 single-parent families with over 70 different services.