Radio România Internațional

Tag: ageing

  • Challenges of an ageing population

    Challenges of an ageing population

    Romanians are getting fewer and older.

     

    The population of Romania in mid-2024 was 21,779,000, down 1% compared to June 1, 2023. According to the National Statistics Institute, demographic aging is deepening, with the over-65 age bracket now almost 1 million people larger than the under-14 segment. The number of women is at present half a million larger than the number of men, and the national average age is close to 43. This is the radiograph of the current situation. The dynamics, however, is constantly worrying, according to experts. Since the 2011 census until the most recent one, of 2021, Romania has lost approximately one million inhabitants, the president of the National Statistics Institute (INS), Tudorel Andrei, said half a year ago in a debate organized by the media in Bucharest. He pointed out to the sharp aging of the population over the last 30 years (by about 7.7 years on average, but much more pronounced in the case of women), and to the fact that, in the coming years, Romania will very likely change places with the Netherlands and will go down from sixth to seventh in the European Union, in terms of population number.

     

    Economist Ionuț Dumitru, former head of the Fiscal Council, warns that the worst part is that this very sharp decline will be felt, in the coming years, in the segment of ​​the active population. In his opinion, the retirement of those born in the period 1968-1990 –  when the communist regime prohibited abortions and discouraged the use of contraceptives – is a very strong shock. Experts also say that Romania’s 65-and-over demographic group is among the fastest growing in Europe, a trend that is expected to continue.

     

    The consequences of an aging workforce become apparent as a smaller workforce group must support a larger community of retirees. This change has far-reaching implications in various sectors, from the economy to healthcare, creating a ripple effect that touches every corner of the Romanian society. Moreover, the birth rate in Romania has been declining for decades, falling below the replacement level needed to maintain a stable population. In the last 35 years, this has almost halved – from about 60 births per thousand women of childbearing age, to 35.

     

    Many young people are leaving the country in search of better economic opportunities, and this exodus worsens demographic imbalances. Finally, commentators point to the inefficiency of the political decision makers. In spite of their declared good intentions, none of the governments in Bucharest, regardless of their ideological color, managed to create programs able to convince the increasingly numerous Romanians in the Diaspora to come back home.

  • November 15, 2023 UPDATE

    November 15, 2023 UPDATE

    ECONOMY Romania will
    see its economic growth slowing down because of the high inflation, according
    to the European Commission’s autumn economic forecast. Romania’s GDP growth has
    been adjusted to 2.2%, as against 4.6% last year, because of an inflation rate
    above the EU average, of the low foreign demand and limited financing options. The
    inflation rate is expected to drop in the next 2 years, restoring the overall economic
    balance. In spite of the moderate economic growth at year end, the labour
    market remains stable. However, significant increases in salaries and pensions
    and the slight increase in governmental spending support a general rise in
    private consumption, although retail and services are on a downward trend and
    the industrial output is decreasing. On the other hand, tighter monetary policy
    and financing conditions have led to a significant slow-down in private sector
    loans, with a negative impact on investments. Romania’s real GDP growth rate is
    expected to reach 3.1% in 2024 and 3.4% in 2025, while the public deficit is
    predicted to stand at 6.3% of GDP this year, 5.3% in 2024 and 5.1% in 2025, as
    a result of the fiscal consolidation measures to be implemented as of January.


    PENSIONS The new pensions law drafted by the government will next
    Monday be discussed in the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making
    body for this piece of legislation, having already been passed by the Senate on
    Tuesday. The parliamentary majority formed by the Social Democrats and the
    Liberals says the law eliminates the inequalities in the system, while the
    opposition condemns the lack of funding sources to sustain the considerable
    pensions increases planned for next year. The new pensions law favours current
    pensioners and penalises those who are still working, the head of the National
    Trade Union Bloc Dumitru Costin said on Wednesday, after analysing the document.
    Costin also warns that the financial impact will be huge, and the extent to
    which it can be covered is unknown.


    PRESIDENT The
    president of Romania Klaus Iohannis Tuesday began his African tour with an
    official visit to Kenya. The tour, which also includes Tanzania, the Republic
    of Cabo Verde and Senegal, is the first political and diplomatic initiative at
    this level in the past 30 years, and aims to re-launch Romania’s relations with
    the countries on the African continent. At a joint press conference on Tuesday,
    president Iohannis emphasised the need for Romania to have its own medium and
    long term strategy for Africa based on concrete collaboration at government
    level, while Kenya’s president William Ruto spoke about the effects of the war
    in Ukraine for the African continent. Four agreements were signed in the fields
    of environmental protection and climate change, scientific cooperation, food
    safety and diplomatic training. On Wednesday, president Iohannis had a meeting
    with Kenya’s secretary for tourism and wildlife, Alfred Nganga Mutua, as part
    of a visit to the Nairobi National Park.


    REPATRIATION The
    foreign ministry in Bucharest said another 17 Romanian nationals and family
    members left the Gaza Strip via the Rafah checkpoint and are on Egyptian territory, waiting to be
    repatriated. The foreign ministry noted the evacuation was the result of
    complex efforts from an inter-institutional crisis cell, the Romanian embassy
    in Cairo and Romania’s Representation in Ramallah. 220 Romanian citizens and
    family members who have been evacuated from Gaza have arrived in Romania.


    AGEING Romania is one of the top 10 countries in the world in terms
    of population ageing rate, which is likely to put tremendous pressure on the
    country’s entire economic system, particularly on its healthcare and pension systems.
    The statement was made on Wednesday at the opening of a specialised congress in
    Bucharest. Sociological research indicates that 55% of the elderly people in
    Romania feel lonely, more than 30% of them only interact with 3-4 people every
    month, and 3 in 10 elderly people have no one to rely on in if necessary.



    MILITARY
    The Romanian Army Wednesday tested the operation of the Patriot surface-to-air missile
    system acquired by the Romanian Air Forces in 2020. The test was part of the PATRIOT
    SPARK 23 tactical exercise held these days at the Capu Midia shooting range in
    the south-east of the country. The Patriot system purchased by Romania is a
    state-of-the-art one, able to identify, track and neutralise any type of air
    threat. Attending the event were the PM Marcel Ciolacu, the Senate Speaker and
    former PM Nicolae Ciucă, and the defence minister Angel Tîlvăr. The Romanian
    Air Forces have so far acquired 3 other Patriot systems, which will be
    operational by the end of next year. Another 3 systems will be delivered to
    Romania under a USD 4 bln agreement. (AMP)

  • October 28, 2022

    October 28, 2022

    POPULATION Between July 2021 and July 2022, Romania lost over
    100,000 residents, according to data released today by the National Statistics
    Institute. From over 22
    million people with permanent residence in Romania, the number dropped to 21.9
    million. The urban and female population make up a majority, accounting for 56.2%, and 51.2% of the total,
    respectively. The average age was 42.1 years
    old, 0.1 years more than on July 1, 2021. Population ageing is also
    significant, as the proportion of old people has increased and the share of
    youth aged up to 14 has decreased slightly. The NSI data refers to individuals
    with Romanian citizenship and permanent residence in Romania, and it may
    include migrants as well. According to the Institute, in 2060 Romania may have between 16.3
    million inhabitants, in an optimistic scenario, and 12.5 million, in a
    pessimistic scenario.


    SOCIAL The government of Romania will simplify procedures for the
    migrants who work in Romania. A bill discussed in today’s Cabinet meeting
    stipulates a reduction in the number of documents required when migrants seek
    to change jobs. The government also intends to increase the number of
    education units in which students can receive hot meals from 350 to 450. And,
    under a separate emergency order, the government plans to create the legal
    framework for pensions valid in all EU member states. Based on EU standards,
    this kind of pension will primarily benefit citizens with employment contracts
    in several EU countries and who want a customised pension product with
    identical operation standards in all member states. The government is also
    working on a bill allowing Romania to pull out of an international convention
    on scientific information exchange, signed in Moscow in 1969.


    SCHENGEN PM
    Nicolae Ciucă was on an official working visit to Brussels, where he was
    promised full support for Romania’s Schengen accession. Positive signals were
    also received with respect to the lifting of the Cooperation and Verification
    Mechanism. The Romanian PM discussed the topics with the president of the
    European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, while the justice minister Cătălin
    Predoiu, who accompanied him to Brussels, had talks with the EC vice-president
    Vera Jourova and with the EU commissioner for justice, Didier Reynders.
    Romania’s and Bulgaria’s Schengen accession may be included in the agenda of
    the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting of December 8-9, 2022.


    PENSIONS
    Pensions in the Romanian public system may be raised as of January 1, 2023,
    with authorities planning the increase to be at least 10%. One of the
    obstacles, namely the pension expenditure ceiling stipulated under the National
    Recovery and Resilience Plan, would be replaced by an indicator related to
    budget capacity and other financial discipline criteria, the PM Nicolae Ciucă
    announced in Brussels. He had talks in this respect with the European
    Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, with technical details to be defined
    by experts.


    UKRAINE The International Atomic Energy
    Agency is set to visit 2 Ukrainian sites this week at Kyiv’s request, as the
    Russian president Vladimir Putin accuses Ukraine of destroying evidence that it
    was preparing a dirty bomb. Previously, Putin had requested an IAEA mission as
    soon as possible. According to him, Ukraine is planning to use radioactive
    weapons and to claim subsequently that Russia had launched a nuclear attack. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is sending Ukraine a new military and aid
    package amounting to USD 275 mln, to help efforts to drive Russian forces away
    from key areas in the south of the country. On the other hand, the US defence
    secretary Lloyd
    Austin Thursday warned Vladimir Putin that a nuclear attack would prompt a significant
    response from the international community. The US official said Russia using
    this type of weapons or even speaking about it was dangerous and irresponsible.
    Meanwhile, clashes continue in Ukraine, with Russian forces launching over 30
    drones in the past couple of days, and the Ukrainian Army destroying 23 of them,
    according to Kyiv. Since February, Russia has launched 4,500 missile attacks
    and over 8,000 air raids over Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. (AMP)

  • Cultural community centers in rural areas

    Cultural community centers in rural areas



    The Culture Atlas is the title of a volume that has been recently launched. The volume re-topicalizes a problem that needs to be solved as soon as possible. Specifically, it is about the reactivation of the cultural community centers in the rural regions across Romania, crucial elements of public infrastructure, education and culture. The volume seeks to assess the state of culture in the countrys rural area, looking into such aspects as the level of distribution of the infrastructure elements or the specificity of the cultural events, among many other issues. The National Institute for Cultural Research and Training affiliated to the Ministry of Culture is the initiator of the volume. The book was completed with the assistance of the National Statistics Institute. The Manager of the National Institute for Cultural Research and Training, Carmen Croitoru, was one of the guests in our program.



    Carmen Croitoru:



    “It is an initial endeavor, it is part of the program we started a couple of years back, actually we sought to count what happens in culture, and had it not been for the most precious help we got from the National Statistics Institute, we wouldnt even have dared to initiate such an undertaking, but we began to investigate and map those elements of cultural infrastructure, which are the first consumption barrier and also the first barrier of access to culture, in Romania.”



    Carmen Croitoru went on to provide a couple of data on the making of the volume, on the prospective solutions to the problem, reminding everybody of the founder of Romanian sociology, Dimitrie Gusti (1880-1955).



    “Allow me to give you a couple of technical pieces of info about the team of the Atlas: it is a research study with a two-year timeframe, when it was initiated and completed, those were years of data collection, of documentation, of statistics, they were field years, the field work that we did was just like in the time of Dimitrie Gusti, and we were very happy because of that, we could see for ourselves how that kind of sociological research could be reenacted. And yet, come to think of it, we were not necessarily brimming with joy, because all that was a giveaway for a rather worrying state of things. In Romania, we have several institutions based in the rural regions that ought to provide culture. As for what happens afterwards, youre about to see for yourselves in this book, since what the institutions are tasked with, that doesnt always come through. Basically, it is one of the widest-scope mapping initiatives were also trying to expand to other categories of institutions. Weve accomplished that also with a view to implementing a public policy proposal targeting the cultural community centers, because solutions still exist for that. There still are a great many NGOs that have already taken cultural intervention initiatives, all they need is a wee bit of support so that they can meet their task.”



    The president of the National Statistics Institute, Tudorel Andrei, spoke about the perks of that kind of research, touching upon a couple of relevant statistical data:



    “If you want the things you do to come along the proper way, you need to have a correct measurement, you need to have a reflection of reality, nay, you need to have a database that can be updated on a daily basis. Otherwise, were about to be going back to square one every time, we start building up and we dont know where we stand and were not going to know where we will eventually end either. And what can I say, as a statistician? What do we notice? That the population of Romania, beginning with the 1970s, in the rural areas, its proportion has decreased very little. The ratio we have is pretty much the same, accounting for 46 to 50%. Our neighbors ratio stands at less than 20%. So the proportion of our rural population is twofold. There is another truth revealed by the statistical figures, many children want to leave, but, sadly, the population we have in the rural regions is ageing. There are many counties, especially those around Bucharest, but also those around the big cities, where the population is over 48, maybe 50 years old, on average. So what is that particular cultural service the local community or the Romanian state must offer to an ageing population? Which is also a big problem: the cultural service must be tailored according to the age bracket of the people inhabiting a certain region. “



    Another guest in our program, the manager of the National Romanian Peasant Museum, Virgil Nițulescu, shared his views on the issue.



    “This kind of work, we should have had it for many years now. Tis a pity it is only now that we have such a data base at our fingertips, and such an analysis, cause thats what the National Institute for Cultural Research and Training does: it carries surveys and paves the way for the launch of various public policies. The Institute has offered an exhaustive survey, I daresay, or a very well-structured one, at any rate, a thoroughgoing analysis on the state of the cultural community centers in the rural regions. So this is the point we need to start from, in a bid to see what we next need to do, because the current situation is rampant on a national scale. It is only in a limited number of communities countrywide where the cultural centers are in a very good condition, having a remarkable activity, they are, I daresay, thriving, yet the overwhelming majority of Romanias rural settlements are deprived of a functional cultural infrastructure and we should not forget that some of our fellow citizens live there. And the Romanian state, and, apart from the Romanian state, the public local authorities, should offer equal opportunities to all Romanian citizens, irrespective of the place people live in.”



    The Manager of the National Library of Romania, Adrian Cioroianu, highlighted the two main causes of the current situation. Dr Cioroianu revisited sociologist Dimitrie Gustis contribution, yet he presented it as a lesson for our times.



    “There are two things I should like to remind you of: in history, as a rule, any given effect has more than one cause. What we have, as we speak, concerning this disastrous situation of the cultural involution in the rural areas, is the outcome of several causes. On one hand, the causes are political, or rather, what we have is the excessive politicization of certain things that should not be politicized, such as education, culture, healthcare or safety. Ageing is another cause of all that. This is a real cause scientists or statisticians speak about, yet not only do we not do anything about it, we do not even discuss what measures could be taken against it. We speak about Gusti and about that auspicious year 1921, when Romanias condition was critical in certain respects, yet it was thriving as regards the countrys birthrate. Honestly, Europe is ageing on a large scale, perhaps that is the main problem of the modern world. And yet, does not the very type of society we live in changes? The solution for that, from my point of view is not the return to Gusti. Gusti, for the 1920s, was a visionary, but we need to identify todays visionaries for tomorrows world.”


    (EN)




  • October 29, 2019

    October 29, 2019

    GOVERNMENT The Romanian Prime Minister designate, the Liberal Ludovic Orban, has signed political agreements with several parliamentary parties, to secure the necessary support in Parliament for his new Cabinet. Parliament is scheduled to vote on the matter on Monday, November 4. In order to be endorsed, the new government needs at least 233 votes. Today and tomorrow, the specialised committees in Parliament are hearing the candidates. Ludovic Orbans Liberal government follows the Social Democratic cabinet headed by Viorica Dancila, which was dismissed on October 10th through a no-confidence vote.




    PROTESTS In Romania, trade unionists in the forestry sector picketed the Chamber of Deputies headquarters in Bucharest on Tuesday, against the backdrop of the growing number of attacks against forestry workers. The 6 foresters killed over the past few years by wood thieves were commemorated, but apart from them, the protesters say, over 650 employees have been assaulted, threatened, and attacked by criminals caught during illegal logging attempts. The unions lobby for immediate changes in the legislation regulating the forestry professions, to the effect of strengthening the authority of foresters.



    MINING In Romania, over 100 coal workers from Paroşeni and Uricani, in the Jiu Valley area in the centre-west of the country, continue to protest underground, for the second consecutive day. They are unhappy with the lack of redundancy packages for the employees to be made redundant early next year. A shut down and renaturation programme at the Paroşeni and Uricani mines was initiated in late December 2017. In 2018 and 2019, operations were conducted to secure the coal deposits and to drain the water from galleries. In 2020 the main ventilation unit is scheduled to shut down, and access to the underground will be sealed.




    AGEING Population ageing is deepening in Romania, with 471,000 more citizens over 65 than children under 14 on July 31st 2019, the National Statistics Institute announced today. The total population by domicile has reached 22.155 million people, 0.1% less than on July 1st, 2018. Urban population and women account for the majority of the Romanian population (56.4% and 51.2% respectively).




    TENNIS The Japanese player Naomi Osaka, number 3 in the world, had to leave the WTA Finals in Shenzhen (China), because of an injury. She was replaced in the Red Group by the Dutch Kiki Bertens, number 10 WTA, who is to play today against the Australian Ashleigh Barty (1 WTA). In the other match today, the Czech Petra Kvitova (6 WTA) takes on the Swiss Belinda Bencic (7 WTA). On Sunday, in the first matches, Osaka outplayed Kvitova, and Ashleigh Barty defeated Bencic. The Romanian Simona Halep (5 WTA) is playing on Wednesday in the Purple Group against the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (8 WTA), and the Canadian Bianca Andreescu (4 WTA) against Karolina Pliskova (2 WTA). On Monday, Halep defeated Andreescu 3-6, 7-6, 6-3, while Svitolina outperformed Pliskova 7-6, 6-4. Simona played the finals of the WTA tournament in Schenzhen in 2014, at her first participation, when she was defeated by the American Serena Williams (9 WTA).


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Labour shortage in Romania

    Labour shortage in Romania

    Although the exact figures do not always concur, all the demographic surveys of the past decade point to the same conclusion: Romanias population is dwindling and ageing. The most recent such survey, commissioned by the Concordia Employers Association, and made public on Tuesday, is no exception. According to its findings, if the demographic decline and migration trends carry on at the same pace, Romanias population will drop to 18 million by 2030. By 2060, the pension system dependency ratio, which is the number of pensioners relative to contributors, will be close to 100%.



    Entitled “A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of the Romanian Labour Market, the survey estimates that the number of employees will drop from 8.4 million in 2016 to 7.3 million in 2030. The authors also say that, in terms of the job supply, geographic polarisation will deepen and the most economically dynamic regions, namely Bucharest-Ilfov in the south, the west and the north-west of the country, will also report the highest labour deficits. At national level, this deficit already amounts to some 300,000 people this year, and it may go well over half a million by 2023.



    The authors have also identified important population segments, around 2 million people, which are included neither in the labour market, nor in the education and vocational training system. “What we find, in other words, is untapped human potential. This phenomenon requires in-depth analysis, to enable us to understand the causes of this situation and subsequently to outline measures able to help them enter the labour market, reads the report.



    Some proposed solutions for the labour crisis mentioned in the study include closer cooperation between the education system and the labour market, aimed at modernising vocational and technical training, and implementing a strategy and an action plan to end the demographic decline.



    Commentators are rather sceptical that these trends can be reversed in the short and medium run. The population decline started 3 decades ago, shortly after the fall of the communist regime, when abortion was decriminalised. And migration, which picked up speed after Romanias EU accession in 2007, will continue as long as the national labour market remains hardly rewarding. Bogdan Hossu, the leader of one of the countrys most important trade union association, Cartel Alfa, says that Romania ranks first in the European Union by share of employees below the poverty threshold, namely 20%.



    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)