Childcare Leave: Problems and Solutions
Automatically translated summary. The full article is available in Romanian.
A study released last week by the Independent Think Tank “Expert-Grup”, “Reform of Childcare Leave” by Constanța Popescu, reviews good practices from Lithuania and Romania to pinpoint weaknesses in Moldova’s current childcare leave system, identifying six main problems.
Lithuania lets parents choose one year at 100% of salary or two years at 70% and 40%, while Romania pays 85% of net income for one or two years and offers a return-to-work bonus of RON 500 a month. In Moldova, about 64.5% of children aged 1.5-3 (roughly 37,000) have uninsured parents, who receive MDL 400 for only 1.5 years and no support afterwards.
The study also finds that benefits are too low (MDL 1,100 for insured and MDL 400 for uninsured parents), that incentives to return to work are missing, and that full-time students are treated as uninsured. It argues that leave of up to six years erodes skills, careers and pensions and encourages hiring discrimination against women. It warns that the 2014 Education Code will end central funding for kindergarten places for under-3s and does not oblige local authorities to run nurseries.
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