Save the Children: More than 75,800 Romanian children with at least one parent working abroad

More than 75,800 Romanian children have at least one parent working abroad, Save the Children Romania said in a statement this Thursday, agerpres reports.

The counties with most children left alone at home are Suceava - 7,216, Botosani - 5,421, Iasi - 4,448, Bacau - 3,569, Neamt - 3,527, Prahova - 3,515, Vaslui - 3,220, Galati - 2,879, Maramures - 2,836, and Constanta - 2,833.

Over 690 children whose parents are working abroad from the counties of Suceava, Iasi, Vaslui, Mures and Hunedoara will be integrated in complex psychological-social-educational support programs.

In the mining community of Petrila - Hunedoara County, 72 percent of the population, families with children included, live in disadvantaged or marginalized areas. Due to the closure of the mines, leaving abroad for work has become an alternative for parents who are otherwise unable to provide for their families. According to the latest statistics 1,284 children in Hunedoara County have their parents at work abroad.

Since May 2019, Save the Children has helped 1,600 children whose parents are away or who come from socioeconomically vulnerable families cope with the inherent educational, psychological and social difficulties and the additional vulnerabilities caused by the pandemic, by their inclusion in remedial education classes for overcoming learning gaps, participation in socialization activities, psychological counseling for children and their families, and supply of emergency material support.

The magnitude of the phenomenon of children with parents working abroad requires the development of a network of dedicated services. Save the Children has set such services in place through 17 local programs, with more than 9,800 children and 6,850 adults, carers or parents having so far benefited from these services.

More than 124,000 people - parents, children and experts - have been informed about the negative impact the parents' absence has on the children left at home, as well as about the parents' obligations when they leave the country.