Even though Chisinau is more attractive for living as compared to other localities from Moldova, the gap between rich and poor is wide in the capital city, and the poverty rate is increasing, shows a new case study by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Moldova. The case study is part of a regional report that covers Europe and Central Asia region, IPN reports.
The case study called “Inequalities in urban Moldova” finds that the elderly people and the persons with health problems represent two categories perceived as being the most vulnerable in Chisinau. Another group mentioned as a rather disadvantaged would be the young families without dwelling. The persons with low incomes also were mentioned among the vulnerable persons, such as: employees in the public sector, the persons with no financial support from abroad, etc.
Over 7% of urban households and 11% households living in Chisinau municipality do not have houses, flats and live in rented dwellings. The rent payment severely affects the chances of young families to have their own housing. At the same time, one fourth of households from Chisinau municipality, that have their own dwelling space, still cannot enjoy the minimum space set by the legislation in force. The young families with children encounter the biggest problems related to the dwelling space and housing conditions.
The number of unemployed people in Chisinau municipality fell in the recent years, being 3 times as low as in 2010. Inequality of opportunity in employment persists among certain groups of population: young persons without work experience, the older persons, especially the persons of pre-retirement age, mothers with small children.
The report calls for guaranteeing decent salaries in the public sector and accountability of the private employers, which is an important factor for decreasing the wage-driven discrepancies. In order to increase access to social security, it is needed to diminish informal sector and thus to ensure more adequate access to the pensions’ system and healthcare services.
