Moldova is facing huge demographic challenges. By 2040, Moldova’s population is estimated to shrink to 1.7 million people (the “low” scenario), a decrease of 34.5% against the year 2018. The population pyramid is expected to turn upside-down, with the generations aged 50+ representing about half of the total population, while those over 60+ one third of it. There is going to be strong gender disequilibrium at senior ages resulting in a very high number of female older single-person households and with a considerable impact on female old-age poverty, shows the Comprehensive Country Gender Assessment that was developed by the UN Country Team in Moldova (UNCT), including the World Bank (WB), IPN reports.
Executive director of the Center “Partnership for Development” (CPD) Alexei Buzu, one of the authors of the assessment, said the continuous emigration of the working-age population, with 15,5% of Moldovans wanting to leave the country in the next three years, and ageing of the population will deepen the impact of Moldova’s demographic structure on the development of the country. While women and men desire to have up to three children, in reality they have less than two, owing to challenges with unpaid care work and reconciling work and family life, given the limited availability of family-friendly workplaces and quality public childcare services.
Social norms and stereotypical gender roles also influence educational as well as professional attainments. The assessment reveals a higher dropout rate in schools among boys. In 2019, the male dropout rate (age cohort 18-25) was 22.6%, compared to a female dropout rate of 15.3%. Men and boys seeing their gender role as breadwinners and economic providers, could be an explanation. Nevertheless, educational attainment among Roma women remains low, while women with disabilities continue to face exclusion. In Moldova, choosing a profession is still strongly influenced by gender roles. Girls tend to choose specializations related to the liberal arts subjects (philology, political science, social sciences, social assistance, etc.), which are usually less well paid.
Gender inequalities in health are significant and have been increasing. At the macro-level, men are more impacted by gender inequalities in health, with a higher mortality rate and lower life expectancy, owing to gender differences in behaviour. However, unmet needs for health care services are larger among women, reaching 43% among women with disabilities, 35% among poor women and 35% among women aged 60+. The current need for modern family planning methods and sexual and reproductive health services remains unmet. Additionally, about one third of women in Moldova, especially young women, lack sexual and reproductive autonomy.
Study author Natalia Covrig, CPD project coordinator, said that looking at employment, Moldova has the highest prevalence of inactivity among women in the region. In 2021, the share of young women neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET) was among the highest in the region at 24%. The employment rate among the Roma population is about seven times lower than in the general population (40.9%), while the employment rate of people with disabilities is about four times lower. Unpaid care work in the household and family are likely barriers to labor force participation, especially for women, who disproportionately take on unpaid caregiving responsibilities. Women from rural areas have less access to labor opportunities.
The assessment takes a No One Left Behind (NOLB) analytical approach and is based on the analysis of data from the Generations and Gender Survey, Household Budget Survey, Labor Force Survey and Development of the Business Environment survey produced by the National Bureau of Statistics and other data. The qualitative component of the assessment included focus group discussions and key informant interviews with representatives of vulnerable groups of women. Additionally, representatives of civil society organizations representing vulnerable groups of women were consulted.
The results of the assessment will feed into key strategic and analytical documents of the United Nations system, including the new World Bank Country Partnership Framework for the Republic of Moldova; the United Nations 2021 Common Country Analysis and the Moldova-United Nations Cooperation Framework for Sustainable Development 2023-2027.
