Twenty years ago the Moldovans left the country in search of a job and a higher salary but now the Republic of Moldova is left by citizens with a good financial situation, said demographic specialists. According to them, an increasing number of citizens chose to leave Moldova because they want public services of a high quality, IPN reports.
Over 15% of Moldova’s population intends to emigrate to another country during the next three years. One third of these are aged between 15 and 35. These are the data of the last demographic survey carried out with the assistance of UNFPA. According to specialists, the Moldovans decide to emigrate to European states not necessarily because they want higher salaries as they rather want services of a higher quality.
“Until recently, the economic opportunities or the high salaries were a very important indicator in the migration process. Now the data show that the persons with salaries of over 20,000 lei also intend to leave. So, the factors that influence migration are different. It goes to the quality of public services, in the education system, in the health system, to infrastructure, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, public transport. The young people are the first who want to enjoy the opportunities offered by other states, primarily the EU. Most of those who return to the Republic of Moldova are older than 50,” UNFPA expert Eduard Mihalaș stated in the program “Shadow Cabinet” on JurnalTV channel.
According to the study “Population of the Republic of Moldova on 30 Years of Independence” that was carried out by the Center for Demographic Research, those who most often choose to leave Moldova for good are young people able to work.
“According to the study, over 900,000 people in 1998-2021, except for the Transnistrian region, emigrated from the Republic of Moldova and didn’t come back. Since the start of the 2000s, labor migration has prevailed and most of those who went aboard to work were from rural areas. Now the young people are interested in studies abroad. Given that the population in Europe is aging, many countries implement programs to attract young people. If we compare the number of students in the Republic of Moldova and the number of those who study abroad, we can say that each fifth studies abroad. This is a large figure,” said expert in demography Olga Gagauz.
Representatives of the government noted that they are making effort to encourage the young people to stay in the country by increasing child benefit and by supporting mothers who want to resume work earlier.
“We pursue policies to encourage paternity leave and more flexibly policies concerning maternity leave so as to stimulate mothers to return to work and be economically active. We want to show the young families that they can bank on the support of the state. During the current session, we will adopt a law that regulates mini-crèches, when a specialist can obtain authorization for an institution that looks after 10-15 children living on the same street or in the same community. Or companies can set up special areas for employees’ children,” said PAS MP Adrian Băluțel.
Recently, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection launched the program “Family” that consists of a series of government measures aimed at supporting the children and the families with children. All the children in Moldova will benefit from a monthly allowance of 1,000 lei up to the age of two years either their parents are socially insured or not. Also, the support allowances for families with children were raised.
