Child welfare in Romania’s rural areas has improved in 2016 compared to 2014, but some of the children in these areas are still at risk of poverty and social exclusion, according to a study carried out by World Vision Romania.

Almost three quarters of families living in rural areas had difficulties in ensuring their children a quality diet in 2016. Moreover, one in ten children goes to bed hungry, the share being slightly lower than in 2014 when one in eight children was in this situation.

The study also shows that the access to health services is not permanent in many rural communities. A quarter of surveyed adults said that the doctor in their village is not present at the medical center every day, but only 2-4 days a week. Thus, 3.4% of children under 5 were never seen by a doctor and only half of children under 5 had their annual review completed in the last year. According to World Vision Romania, although the situation has slightly improved over 2014, it’s still worrying in terms of disease prevention.

On the good side, the children aged 12-14 have become more interested in personal hygiene. They said that they are taking four showers/baths per week on average, up from three showers/baths per week in 2014. However, 9% of children said that there is no source of water for washing hands in their schools, and 21% stated that the schools’ toilet has no running water.

Some 40% of children in rural areas are working up to two hours per day in their households, down from 58.5% in 2014. According to the study, 12.5% of children feel tired because they work before or after school (compared to 23% in 2014), and 8% even miss school to go to work (compared to 12% 2014).

Another worrying aspect is that the percentage of children who are smoking has increased from 7.3% in 2014 to 9% in 2016. Moreover, some 40% of the boys aged 15 were drinking alcohol last year.

The study was carried out starting April 2016 on over 2,200 adults and more than 2,500 children aged 7-18 from 105 villages.

The full report is available in Romanian here.

Almost half of Romania’s children live in poverty

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com