
Between May 15 and June 15, 2022, Romanian Large Families Association (ASFANU) carried out a research about the romanian large families, looking at some essential aspects: the social structure of the family, the living conditions and the needs of these families. The final results were published in the media at the end of September and will be presented to government institutions and private sector.
The results of the study show that romanian large families come from all social classes, and in recent years the difference between the number of large families in rural and urban areas tends to decrease. Families with 3 children have the largest share among large families in Romania. The average age of parents in large families is 36-41 years, and the third child in large families is predominantly born after 2016.
In Romania there are no support measures dedicated exclusively to families with 3 or more children. Only 4% of the participants in the ASFANU study benefited from family support measures. In large families there are agglomerations related to living space, as well as organizational challenges in terms of coordinating work, household and all children’s activities. For the large families participating in the ASFANU study, investment in children’s education is the highest priority, but also an important catalyst for family expenses.
For most respondents to ASFANU study (49.3%), income is approximately equal to family expenses. This range of respondents is followed by the category of families whose income is lower than family expenses (36.3%). Only for 14.3% of the respondents the income is higher than the family expenses. Also, large families indicate the burden of family expenses with the amount of fees and taxes that do not take into account the number of dependent children.
The main purpose of the ASFANU study is to create an overview of large families at the level of Romanian society and to contribute to the recognition of large families as a value of the whole society.