Romanian labor minister: We could have removed child raising allowances

Labor minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu said yesterday that the EUR 1,800 cap on the child raising allowance is “sufficient” for Romania, adding that she could have removed it at all or reduced it to EUR 100. She made these statements during the debates in the Senate’s labor committee on the topic of capping child raising allowances. Vasilescu added that the child raising allowance ceiling amounts to EUR 1,800 in Germany, and this is the maximum granted in the European Union. “No one in Romania contributes to the child raising allowance. It is the state’s way to help families raise these children while they are not working. So, we can’t talk about the contribution principle, and the ceiling is the maximum in the European Union. We could lower it even more. We could do the same as in highly developed countries in the EU, not to give it at all or just give EUR 100,” Vasilescu said. Only about 1,000 people would be affected by capping the child raising allowances, the labor minister added. The emergency ordinance aims to correct inequalities. The Romanian state was paying child raising allowances of up to EUR 35,000 per month, Vasilescu said. editor@romania-insider.com