We present you with data from unique research conducted in 2012 in Moldova. It was focused on identification of children who had found themselves in emergency situations after their parents went to work abroad. The research also focused on their needs and concrete problems.

Since 1998, the Moldova Republic has experienced a strong increase of poverty, which reached one of the highest volumes (over 70%) recorded in The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). It is also the reason for the continuous migration of working force, a phenomenon which brings new social and economic problems.

During the last years, a significant part of the population has fled the country due to the economic reasons. Upwards of 600,000 Moldavians live abroad, in 2009 the estimate was around 353,000, which is around a third of the country´s work force. It is estimated that up to one third of Moldovans are unstable migrants, living abroad and home. A very worrying impact of the massive migration is the phenomenon of “the abandoned child”.

Caritas CZ, in cooperation with the local partners in Moldova, realized as part of the project Support of creation of national conception for service to abandoned children, a quantitative research focused on identification of such deprived children; kids whose parents have left to abroad as well as children in difficult life situation. Their needs and problems they face are also considered in the survey.

The research was preceded by an informational medial campaign, preparing the citizens for the massive quantitative survey. Therefore the social workers have gained more credibility from the citizens of Moldavia. The training of 1,100 social workers from different administrative regions of Moldova was also provided.

The research was conducted between March and September 2012 in 36 Moldovan regions and involved 168,081 Moldavian children and youth up to 18 years, i.e. 23% of total population of kids and youth in Moldova. The results showed that about 150,270 (62.8 %) respondents have had experience with parental migration, of which 33.6 % were living with both parents at the time of the research. Furthermore, 36.3 % live only with their mother and 7.3 % live only with their father. Over 20% of the children have lived either with grandparents or relatives.

The questionnaire was prepared in cooperation with Moldavian state university, the faculty of sociology, the Child Rights Information Center Moldova (CRIC) organization, the consultants from Ministry of work and family of Moldova and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).