Material problems, a millstone for many families with children

The life of many children is not a fairy tale, on the contrary. Material problems greatly affect their development. In Romania in 2024, 48% of children in rural areas (approximately 864,000 children) live in families where money barely reaches from one month to the next or is not even enough for the bare necessities. Moreover, 38% of rural families have been in a position to give up buying clothes and shoes for their children, according to a large study on the situation of children in villages, launched by World Vision Romania. According to data transmitted by the organization, over 42% of rural households with children have no wage income and depend on income from social assistance, pensions or irregular sources of income. According to the organization: "This happens when the standard monthly cost of raising a child (excluding childcare, education and health expenses), calculated at the level of the study sample cited above, is 595 lei per month. Unfortunately, many parents face difficulties in covering the family's basic needs: 38% of households with children in rural areas (approximately 310,000 households with 692,000 children living in them) have bought food on credit in the last year, 58% of households do not have expenses for children's cosmetics and 29% of children do not use hygiene products. Therefore, many adults are forced to work abroad: 19% of children in rural areas (approximately 348,000 children) have an adult in the household who has gone to work abroad at the time of the study." According to the cited document, the family's financial difficulties are reflected in the children's educational path: "For example, 3 out of 10 parents from marginalized communities did not send their children to kindergarten in the last year because they did not have money for the child's necessary clothes. Approximately two-thirds of school-age children in rural areas (62%) are involved in gainful activities, and 4 out of 10 middle school children (41%) do not want to go to high school, but to get a job, work in the family or take a qualification course." The World Vision Romania Foundation is carrying out the "Shoulder the Limitations" campaign in December, through which it aims to shoe 2,436 children with a new pair of boots and dress them in a new winter jacket for Christmas.