- Corruption: Despite the efforts of the anti-corruption department in the country, corruption still remains a problem in the country. The capacity to prosecute corruption cases in the country is still weak. Romania is ranked seventy one globally by Transparency International, the highest in the European Union, compare to the United States ranked at nineteen (Chronic, 2010).
- Emigration: The number of Romanians working abroad is staggering. It is estimated that over two and half million Romanians work out of the country. This has resulted to over 170,000 orphans. Additionally, UNICEF approximates that over 350,000 Romania children have been abandoned by one parent due to emigration (Chronic, 2010).
- Child trafficking/Prostitution: it is estimated that in 2010, 780 cases of child trafficking were reported in Romania with girls going for between 2500 and 5000 Euros. The department tasked with the prevention of human beings adds that sexual exploitation of children and child trafficking from Romania to other European Union countries has increased (Chronic, 2010).
- Poverty: Poverty is widespread in Romania. Statistics show that 24% of people under the age of seventeen live in poverty. 350,000 of this number live in abject poverty. The infant mortality rate in Romania are the highest in Romania, with the life expectancy in the country being eight to nine years less than that in developed countries (Militaru, Avram, Cojanu & Stroe, 2013).
- Medicare: Almost 25% of the children in Romania suffer from different chronic health problems in 2010. This is a 500% increase from the figures posted in 2007. The main health problems in the country are backbone deformations, obesity and eye-related problems (Chronic, 2010).
- Child labor: Although the law criminalizes child labor, there is a high incidence rate of child labor in Romania. It was reported in 2008 that over 1072 cases of child labor were cited all over Romania. Of these, 125 cases were confirmed (Chronic, 2010).
References
Chronic, D. (2010). The Situation in Romania 2010. Retrieved from http://www.wordmadeflesh.org/Romania/2010/04/the-situation-in-romania-2010/
Militaru, E., Avram, S., Cojanu, S. & Stroe, C. (2013). Tackling Child Poverty in Romania by Learning from other Country’s Experiences Comparative Micro simulation Analysis. Retrieved from> http://www.gesis.org/fileadmin/upload/dienstleistung/daten/amtl_ mikrodaten /europ_microdata/Abstracts_2013/Militaru_.pdf
