With parents abroad, children face the painful impact of migration
The phenomenon of migration is increasingly impacting families with children, particularly in rural areas. In many villages, children are often left in the care of their grandparents or a single parent while one parent works abroad. This situation is exemplified by Ludmila Stratuta, a resident of Sheptelici, Soroca district, who has been raising her two grandchildren since their birth, as their parents are working overseas.
Ludmila Stratuța has three children and 12 grandchildren. Currently, two of the grandchildren are in her care, their parents having gone abroad to offer them a better future.
“Grandma loves you very much, and may you grow up obedient, and when you go into the world, remember your grandmother”.
Nicolae and Mihai help their grandmother with the housework and study diligently to make their mother proud. The boys soothe their longing for their mother by talking to her on the phone.
“-What does mom ask you? What do you talk to mom about? - She asks me: What are you doing? How was school? If I was good”.
The boys’ grandmother helps them with their homework. However, the woman believes that the love she gives them does not compare to that of a mother.
"The eldest went to her mother abroad, but these two I slowly teach them, ask them how to do it, what to do. Technology, I learn with them, I walk in line with them. But I also give them the love and affection of a mother, but it's not like that of a mother", says Ludmila Stratuța.
The phenomenon of migration affects children emotionally, say specialists.
"Communication from a psychological point of view is precisely that living communication, where the child feels the parent and the parent the child. Where they do certain things together and this shapes him, this shapes what he has to do in the future", explains psychologist Andrei Cociug.
Statistics show that, in 2024, 16% of households with children had at least one member abroad. At the same time, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, over 18,300 children are temporarily left in the care of other people, of which over 17,800 benefit from temporary custody, with an officially designated responsible adult.
