ROU - Social Welfare

Social Welfare

The unemployment rate in Romania has been relatively low in recent years and stands at around 5% in 2011.

In the late 2000s, nearly 10 percent of the population was in absolute poverty and of these, 90% live in rural areas.

A set of reforming programs has been started in 1999 introducing private health insurance. The pension system was also reformed. The state-run health care system is free, but suffers from neglect and has deteriorated in recent years due to lack of funding and underpaid staff. In many cases, the patients are bribing the clinic or hospital staff to get better treatment. There is evidence to suggest that a patient's wealth plays an important role in how they receive medical treatment.

By the first quarter of 2011, the average monthly household income is 2,318 lei (equivalent to approximately $862). The difference between countryside and urban area may vary; the income is 36 per-cent higher in the urban areas than in the countryside.

In 2010, the average monthly pension in Romania was 734 lei, or €170. The current average retirement age (55 years for women and 57 years for men) will be gradually increased until 2014 to 60 years for women and 65 years for men.

Many of the Romani people in Romania have no identity cards and are therefore excluded from the social benefit systems, schools and health care.