Romania of the barefoot children

An uncompromising look at the poverty rate in Romania, in 2023

Luiza Moldovan, 03.01.2024, 14:00

Recent data provided by
Eurostat for 2023 have revealed that of the entire European Union, Romania is
the country were the poverty or social exclusion rate for children saw a 0.4% growth,
over 2020 and 2021. Actually, the aforementioned rate stands at 41.4%. Romania
is followed by Spain, a country that has a 33.4% poverty or social exclusion
rate. Finland and Denmark stand at the upper end of the scale, with a poverty or
social exclusion rate of 13% and a 14%, respectively, among their children.

If
we have a closer look at Romania, the rural regions fare a great deal worse
than the urban areas. In 2021, in the major cities we had a poverty or social exclusion
rate of 16.1%. Poverty or social exclusion rate in the smaller cities and the
suburbs stood at 30.7%, while the aforementioned rate in the rural region
accounted for 50.1%. The economic crisis of the last two years took its
toll on the little ones, so much so that their families were unable to buy their
children clothing or footwear, since the household incomes plummeted.

Of
the entire Europe, our children have been hardest-hit by the daily inflation
rate. Against this backdrop, the non-governmental organizations play a critical
role. To that end, we sat down and spoke to Gabriela Alexandrescu, the
executive president of Save the Children, the organization that for almost 30 years
not has been totally working for our most underprivileged children. We asked
her what the weakest point was, of our underprivileged children.

First of all, we need to say that, unfortunately, Romanian children are
exposed to poverty and social exclusion risks. Of all European Union countries,
we have a 2 to 5 ratio of children in such a condition (that is 41.5%) as
compared to the EU level, where 1 in 4 children experiences the poverty limit (almost
25%). The survey we have carried among the vulnerable families we have been working
with has revealed that this cost-of-living crisis hit them the hardest. The
over whelming majority (that is almost 95% of the families) face problems in
their attempt to cover their basic needs, such a medical treatment, food,
clothes for children. To be more specific, I should say that, in the course of last
year, 71% of the vulnerable families gave up on their clothes and footwear
expenses, while 24 % of them have cut down on their food expenses, which is extremely
serious because, unfortunately, the poverty we have been speaking about, the
poverty affecting children also leads up to their inability to continue to be
registered in the educational system. A child living below the poverty threshold
is a malnourished child, with a frail health and standing meagre chances to
overcome the vulnerabilities of his environment. Poverty kills education. This
is the very label of a campaign Save the Children has been carrying, Poverty
Kills Education. And it is our responsibility to mitigate the effect poverty
has on children, as much as we can.

There is yet another
weak point we need to take into account, that of the children whose parents
work abroad. Whether we speak about both parents or about only one, or the
single parent who, being desperate, leave their children in the care of the grandparents
and go to work abroad, the situation does not look good at all. Save the Children has
been working with tens of thousands of children in this condition. We’re speaking
about a quiet social catastrophe, with long-term repercussions.

Save
the Children’s Gabriela Alexandrescu:

As we all know, over 5 million Romanians went to work
abroad, longer term or for a limited period of time. I must say that over
half a million children had, in the last year, at least one parent who went to
work abroad, and almost a million children in Romania are, or were, affected by
the departure of one or both parents. It is quite a serious situation for the
children left at home, because for them, the departure of a parent is felt as
trauma, most of the time, the biggest one so far. Based on the background of
emotional vulnerability incurred, they are more prone to the risk of dropping
out of school and the emergence of emotional and behavioral disorders. We see
this in our daily work from 2009 until now, and it is important to address all
these aspects, because the psychological balance of the child is significantly
affected. We see many children with anxiety, depression, feelings of
loneliness, abandonment, which are reflected in sleep disorders, eating
disorders, excessive weight gain, significant behavioral imbalances. It is
important to be careful, to work with these children in particular. I am
referring especially to those children who have both parents gone, or the
single parent gone, because there is also a significantly higher risk of
falling behind in school, of being involved in school violence, truancy,
dropping out of school. It is, as I said, a trauma that children express and
feel in different ways, and we must be there, next to them, and support them
materially, educationally, but especially emotionally, to get through a
difficult period from their lives.

Moreover, Save the Children
has intensified programs for the recovery of children from vulnerable
environments.

Gabriela Alexandrescu:

In the
year 2023, it was important for Save the Children to intensify the
school dropout prevention, school reintegration and socio-pedagogical support
programs for children who are victims of poverty. We have worked with more than
42,000 children, we have provided direct services for 12,000 children
(kindergarten and summer school programs, school after school, second chance)
and educational and social support to continue their studies. We have worked
with another 10,000 children, who benefited from improved educational services
as a result of teacher training, we intensified training programs for
specialists (almost 250 teachers were co-opted in such programs). We also
ensured decent, much better learning conditions in 40 units schools through
renovations, equipment, provision of supplies, books for school libraries, as a
result of which almost 20,000 children have benefited from this. And
previously, ‘Save the Children’ had an extremely extensive involvement in
ensuring the prevention of school dropout and the improvement of school results
for many children. Before 2023, we worked with almost 150,000 children to help
them go to school, to provide them with additional education, material support,
support for their families, to improve their home conditions, to provide
children with an environment conducive to learning. We invested a lot in the
educational recovery of children who did not go to school, or dropped out of
school, and then helped them start the educational process again. We had a lot
of school after school groups, in over 20 counties and Bucharest. We are very
much involved in this direction, because it is clear that, without education,
the present and the future of a child are uncertain.