According to a June 2007 statistic of the National Agency for Children’s Rights at that time there were 82 464 children that had at least one parent working abroad (and out of these, 26 406 had both parents abroad) - these were the official statistics I was talking about.

As for estimations/polls, the latest one, released just a few days ago and funded by UNICEF, speaks of 350 000 children with parents working abroad (half of them with both parents abroad) - but it’s just an estimation, not a real statistic.

The statistics cited above were taken from World Bank and the Romanian Media. I realize that there are many factors involved in these statistics, but that does not change their existence. The more people are made aware of the state of affairs in Romania, the more likely things are to change in Romania.

To clarify on #2 - the government figure you stated is for orphans and abandoned children, the Romanian media’s estimated number I quoted is for children that have parents - but their parent(s) work outside the country and the children stay with friends or relatives in RO.

1) “Romania has a -0.43% annual population growth”
So what? Many other European countries have similar negative population growth rates.

2) 700.000 children according to who? Because according to official statistics they are only about 90.000 - 100.000.

3) The high rate inflation is due to the populist measures of the government (it’s an election year!), plus the effects of the global economic crisis.

4) “the 2008 minimum salary in Romania is 140 Euro/month”
That’s true; but even if it might seem ridiculous, it might be interesting to point out that it’s an increase from 2007 when the minimum wage was 100-110 euros.

5) “to remain in the EU a minimum salary of 500 Euro/month is required by 2013″ :-)))
That’s absolutely false (frankly, it’s ridiculous. Do you really know that little about the EU?).

6) In fact, it’s a population of 21.5 million in the country PLUS the 2-4 millions working abroad.

7) “Of the young men my age that I knew when I first came to Romania in the late 90’s, nearly 3/4 have left the country?”
If you’re staying in an underdeveloped area, that’s normal (sadly).