Romania’s Govt Reduces Child-Rearing Benefits By 15%

Union leader Aurel Cornea told MEDIAFAX Wednesday that the 15% reduction of child-rearing benefits had already been discussed during a meeting with Finance Minister Sebastian Vladescu on Tuesday.

Andreea Vass-Paul, economic adviser to Prime Minister Emil Boc, said on May 14 that Romania's Labor Ministry decided to cut 25% of the child-rearing benefit, currently standing at 85% of the parent's average income for the previous year, starting June 1. The announcement triggered protests at the Labor Ministry's headquarters where mothers, fathers, and grandparents gathered in an attempt to convince authorities to give up the measure.

The decision to cut child-rearing benefits is part of a cost-cutting plan the Government will implement in order to bring the budget deficit to below 6.8% of the GDP from 7.3% last year and meet the agreement for a EUR20 billion rescue loan from the IMF, EU and the World Bank.

The austerity measures also include a 25% cut in public sector wages and a 15% cut in pensions and social welfare benefits, which prompted thousands of people to stage the biggest demonstration rally of the past 19 years outside the government building last week, hoping to pressure authorities into watering down their austerity plan.

Unions also threatened to go on full-blown strike as of May 31, freezing public road and rail transport across the country, halting activity in schools, hospitals and public institutions.

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