As many as 20,000 will be polled within the “Generations and Gender” demographic survey that is conducted in three rounds every three years. It will study the changes in the family structure, aging processes and other important aspects of everyday life, IPN reports.

Secretary of state at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection Nelea Rusu said that this year the survey will last until June. The interviewed persons will be aged between 15 and 79 and will be from 153 localities of Moldova.

The survey is carried out under a memorandum of cooperation between the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection, the National Bureau of Statistics and the United Nations Population Fund. It will center on inter-generational relationships, family and reproductive behavior and desired fertility, including factors determining couples’ decision to have or not to have children. The results will be used by the Ministry to adopt new approaches and to design new demographic policies.

UNFPA Representative Nigina Abszada said the repeated interviewing of respondents every three years within a nine-year period will enable to see the developments at family level and will contribute to identifying solutions to cope with such aspects as aging, life expectancy and low birth rates.

Aurelia Spătaru, vice director general of the National Bureau of Statistics, stated that the survey will cover a sample that is representative at country and regional levels, less for ATU Gagauzia.

Dumitru Slonovschi, director of the sociological company that will carry out the survey, said they already piloted the questionnaire successfully. If a person refuses to take part in the survey, another participant is chosen.

The budget of the program totals US$280,000. Of this sum, US$197,000 is provided by the Government of Moldova, while US$83,000 by India-UN Development Partnership Fund through UNFPA.