The parents of over 80,000 children in Romania currently work abroad, according to the National Authority for Child Protection and Adoption. Some 22,000 of these children have both their parents working outside the country.

The number of kids left with 4th degree relatives amounts to some 20,000. The kids who live with their distant relatives receive a monthly support of RON 600 (EUR 134).

Many of these children feel abandoned and guilty, and believe they triggered their parents’ departure, says Gabriela Alexandrescu, executive president of the Save the Children NGO.

editor@romania-insider.com