Child Abandonment and Migration – Romanian Study

Context: With a traumatic history regarding child abandonment during the Communist regime, Romania currently is dealing with a new form of abandonment: children left behind by the parents that work abroad. Research objective: The objective of the study is to identify the relationship between child abandonment and parents’ migration.

Methodology: The study analyses public statistic data from the Romanian National Authority for the Protection of Children`s Rights and Adoption, during 2008-2018. Main results and implication: Each year, over 3600 children that enter in Child Protection Services evidence were children of parents working abroad. The migration phenomenon, although started by the motivation to ensure a better living for their children, continues to lead to child abandonment. Although efforts have been made towards placing the children into a family environment, a significant number, which increased over the past ten years, remain in CPS care.

General conclusion: Despite the fact that the opportunity to work in the EU represents one of the best ways to rise the socio-economic status for many people, the price of giving away the parental role is too high and has many negative effects on children`s development. The need to make important steps towards parental education and child abandonment prevention, taking into consideration the implications and the negative effects of the phenomenon, still remains.


Keywords: child abandonment, migration, Romania