Over half of the poorest families in the Republic of Moldova, specifically 52%, are families with children. A law that doubles the social assistance for families with three and more children will take effect this September. This and other changes in the legislation concerning employed persons with children were discussed in a Press Club meeting staged by the Center “Partnership for Development” (CPD), IPN reports.
The average social benefit is 600 lei. This will rise twice for families with three and more children when the law comes into force. Over 13,000 families now receive social welfare, said MP Dan Perciun, who heads the Parliament’s commission on social protection, health and family.
A PAS initiative introduced recently extends the parental leave for employed persons with children from 56 days to 12 months. Also, the childcare leave could be divided by the mother and the father. The parents will be able to opt for shorter leave, up to the child’s age of one year and two months. In this case, the benefit will be 90% of the salary for the last 12 months. According to the amendments to the Labor Code that are introduced by the same bill, the parents will be able to combine work with physical presence with remote work. The bill is to be approved by the legislative body until the end of July, said Dan Perciun.
PAS MP Marina Morozova, who is a mother of three, said it is hard to harmoniously combine work and family life. “According to statistics, most of the women in the Republic of Moldova face a critical choice between career and family life. On the other hand, it is not a novelty that the involvement of women in the economic life leads to economic growth and to higher living standards. The Labor Code actually enables the employer and employee to reach an agreement according to needs, but in our country there is a standard that the people need to work from 8am until 5pm or from 9am until 6pm and the people are not ready to negotiate such aspects. For parents, it is very important to have time to take the child to the kindergarten or to take this home when they need,” stated Marina Morozova.
CPD project coordinator Alina Andronache noted that many families in Moldova find it increasingly hard to ensure a balance between work and family life and this negatively influences the life of families, the development of society and the economy and also the labor market and labor productivity.
In the same meeting, Nelea Rusu, UNFPA Moldova project coordinator, said that Sweden, Iceland and Norway top the rankings of countries with family-friendly policies. In these states, 55 fatherrs from 100 countries ask for childcare leave. In Moldova, this indicator is much lower.
UNFPA Deputy Representative in Moldova Natalia Plugaru said that a recent study by UNFPA Moldova shows that for the couples in the Republic of Moldova, the ideal number of children is three, but many parents decide to raise one or two children. There are also gender stereotypes. Only 5% of the men in the Republic of Moldova become involved in domestic chores. “For the United Nations Population Fund, the promotion of family-friendly policies and reconciliation of work and family life form part of a broader regional demographic resilience program that helps the countries turn all the demographic challenges they face into opportunities. One of the priorities of this program is to offer services and chances to families in the Republic of Moldova, in the countries of the region to grow as many children as they want and to enjoy the necessary support,” stated Natalia Plugaru.
The Press Club meeting was organized by CPD as part of the project “More Opportunities: Gender-Responsive Family Policies for the Private Sector in the Western Balkans and Moldova”. The project is implemented by UNFPA with support from the Austrian Development Agency in partnership with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova.
