The Household Finance Initiative for Central and Eastern Countries, launched with the support of a Visegrad 4 fund initiative, was established at Corvinus University of Budapest in 2024 to foster multidisciplinary research collaboration across V4 countries. The Center aims to address critical issues related to the aging population, including rising poverty rates, declining housing quality, housing supply shortages, environmental inefficiencies, and energy inefficiency in housing. Additionally, it seeks to tackle the growing inequality in housing affordability. While the younger generation, people at the beginning of their careers, and young families struggle to enter the housing market, the elderly often remain in large, energy-inefficient properties that are often unaffordable, further exacerbating housing affordability and quality issues.

A diverse team of researchers was formed, each bringing unique expertise to the project. Dr. Ágnes Vaskövi specializes in aging populations, focusing on the socio-economic challenges faced by the elderly. Dr. Erzsébet T. Varga contributes her knowledge on gender inequality, single-parent households, housing affordability, and overall living standards. Meanwhile, Zsuzsanna T. Vőneki and Dr. Zsuzsa R. Huszár focus on the financial aspects of the issue, analyzing the role of financial services providers and various financial services and products as possible solutions for alleviating financing constraints and creating alternative forms of pension income through reverse mortgages.

Together, this multidisciplinary team aims to provide policy recommendations to systematically and objectively address these interconnected issues with the help of researchers from the Original Collaborators (OGs) to promote social and financial sustainability in the V4 region.