The income of families with many children has decreased since the start of the pandemic. According to a research conducted by CCF/HHC Moldova from 14-28 April 2020 on a sample of 140 families, 54% of the interviews families, who already had an insufficient level of income, said their income reduced. The pandemic also affected education, food and the emotional state, IPN reports.
The evaluation shows that during the state of emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, 48% of families with school-age children had reduced access to educational services for children, primarily due to lack of equipment or internet connection. In cases where children had access to online school, parents reported a reduction in the quality of education, especially for children with special educational needs.
The pandemic also resulted in limited food and hygiene resources due to declining incomes, during a time when food consumption increased as children were staying at home as unable to attend kindergarten or school. At the same time, in order to avoid the risk of infection, families frequently washed their hands, sanitized their homes and used masks and gloves, often bought at higher prices, placing increased pressure on their budget.
A negatively affected emotional state of adults and children is another consequence of the pandemic. Over 32% of families confessed that they are worried about the future, feel isolated, helpless and fear the infection. Likewise, families mentioned that about 21% of children are bored, apathetic or sad. The number of such cases may increase with the extension of the pandemic and isolation. The most affected families were those with many children, those resident in rural areas, single-parent households and/or those with a low income.
The authorities’ response to problems families were facing was timely but, in a way, reactive. Approximately 25% of families mentioned that they received support from local authorities and social workers, 10% from school, and 8% from the medical system. Several respondents mentioned they received help from the community social worker in completing the social assistance application (during the emergency period, families could receive a social allowance without much bureaucracy, rather it was based on trust). Other community actors (school, kindergarten and faith-based structures) also mobilized to help families with food packages and hygiene products from the reserves held at schools, nurseries and churches.
The research authors formulated a series of recommendations addressed to the local and district authorities, such as: provide low-income families with food; provide personal protective equipment to prevent the spread of COVID-19; organize tutoring, delivered by teachers from educational institutions, for children from families who did not have access to online education. The central authorities are recommended to identify financial resources for emergency interventions within the Population Support Fund; elaborate methodological notes for the employees of the social, medical and educational assistance system in crisis/emergency assistance; develop an action plan in order to reduce the negative impact of COVID-19.
Civil society is recommended to coordinate efforts to ensure a coherent approach and avoid efforts being duplicated; to identify financial resources available to assist families affected by COVID-19 in order to overcome the negative consequences; to assist families in crisis. The donors are recommended to adjust short-term funding schemes for authorities and civil society to provide financial resources for COVID-19 prevention and control actions, while in the medium-term to adjust country strategies in order to include emergency response as a priority, and to allocate additional financial resources for emergency interventions.
