The birth rate in the municipalities of Chisinau and Balti last year was higher than in 2013. However, in general the birth rate in Moldova is on the wane, with the lowest figures being reported in Sangerei, Criuleni and Falesti districts. Contacted by IPN, Doctor of Medical Sciences Boris Galca, national expert in reproductive health and population sciences, said this is a normal phenomenon given that the marriage group now includes the generation of people born in the middle and at the end of the 1980s, when Moldova witnessed the apogee of natality, with about 100,000 births a year, but the trends will decrease suddenly the next few years.
“In the 1980s, we had the largest generation of people born in the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic. It’s absolutely normal to see a rise in the birth rate now that these young people get married. But all these figures do not show a definite demographic growth in Moldova. This is a temporary phenomenon and the birth rate will decline suddenly in several years already, when the marriage group will include the generation of people born after 1990, when the birth rate in the already independent Moldova decreased considerably,” stated Boris Galca.
The expert said that Moldova will continue to witness a demographic decline, but this is a phenomenon typical of all the countries of the region. Europe also experiences depopulation, as Moldova does. The situation can be changed by developing key policies on population, making strategic investments in the human resources, promoting gender equality as a political, economic and social priority for young people, implementing high-quality education according to the European standards and ensuring general equitable access to health services.
“The pro-natality policies maintained by Moldova are not viable. This was proven in the region and at global level. The investment in human resources, education opportunities and in infrastructure for young families, in sustainable and irreversible development so that the people have confidence in tomorrow and the implementation of friendly family policies remain important. The rise in the birth rate and the demographic growth, if this is regarded as a national priority, cannot be ensured by pro-natality instruments. Such demographic phenomena are possible only by the free decision and consent of the family,” stated Boris Galca.
He also said that only when the young families feel the impact of the family policies through the friendly infrastructure for raising the children such as nurseries with irreproachable services, access to medical services of a high quality and similar infrastructure and living standards in villages and towns, will they be ready to give birth to the second, third child or even to more children.
In the same connection, Boris Galca said that bringing up only one child becomes an ordinary feature for the Moldovan families and state instruments should be thus used to implement family policies, to optimize the professional activity and correlate it with the family responsibilities, following the example of the Scandinavian countries, which have the highest birth rate in Europe.
Not more than 40,000 children are born in Moldova annually.
