The profound changes experienced by the Romanian society had a profound social impact on the structure and functions of the rural family. The paper aims to highlight the main trends recorded using a number of indicators: ruralization rate, birth rate, infant mortality rate, percentage of children born outside marriage, fertility rate, percentage of population aged 65 and over. Statistics from censuses and statistical yearbooks were processed to identify the trends of the Romanian rural family: changes in reproductive behavior, increased aging, declining birth rates

Adina IORGA

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Scientific Papers  Series  Management , Economic Engineering in Agriculture  and Rural Development  Vol. 13,   Issue  2,  2013 PRINT  ISSN  2284-7995,   E-ISSN 2285-3952     189 CURRENT TRENDS OF ROMANIAN RURAL FAMILY  Adina IORGA  University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Bucharest, 59 Marasti, sector 1, 011464,  Bucharest,  Romania,  Phone:  +40  21  318  25  64/232,  Fax:  +  40  21, Email :iorga_adinam@yahoo.com  Corresponding author: iorga_adinam@yahoo.com   Abstract  The profound changes experienced by the Romanian society had a profound social impact on the structure and functions of the rural family. The paper aims to highlight the main trends recorded using a number of indicators: ruralization  rate,  birth  rate,  infant  mortality  rate,  percentage  of  children  born outside  marriage,  fertility  rate, percentage of population aged 65 and over. Statistics from censuses and statistical yearbooks were processed to identify the trends of the Romanian rural family: changes in reproductive behavior, increased aging, declining birth rates.  Key words: fertility rate, reproductive behavior, rural family,  INTRODUCTION   Character  of  relations  within  the  family (dominated  by  tradition  or  open  to  new) influences  decisively,  by  the  primary  social values, how to make decisions and reporting to the other individual. [1]  So the family is the  social  group  with  utmost  importance  in ensuring the harmonious  development of its members in relation to biological, emotional, psychological,  financial  protection,  proper socialization  and  education  of  children. In  this  paper  I  will  analyze  demographic factors involved in the development of rural space  and  the  evolution  family  (household) areas.  MATERIALS AND METHODS  Family  is  an independently dynamic system that  integrates  social  mechanism,  with  a pronounced  historical  character.  Thus  rural social  dynamics  as  a  whole,  was  passed  on dimensioning household, the functionality and role of the family. To characterize the demographic changes of the rural population in the period 2002-2012 we used the following indicators: ruralization rate,  birth  rate,  infant  mortality  rate, percentage of children born outside marriage, fertility rate, percentage of population aged 65 and over, nuptiality rate, divorce rate, general mortality rate. [2] Statistical  data  from  censuses  and  statistical yearbooks  were  processed  to  identify  the main coordinates of the family's demographic and social areas, during the analyzed period.  RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS  Romanian population decreased continuously in recent years, as it was at 1st of July 2010 of 21.4  million  inhabitants,  less  with  over  1.8 million  than  in  1990  and  less  with  250,000 people  compared  to  2002.  Under  these conditions,  the  population  structure  by residence  shows  that  Romania  remains  a country with a deep rural character (Table 1).    Table 1. Population of Romania by regions and areas of residence), Source: INS   Census 18 March 2002   1 st of July 2010   Urban (%)  Rural (%)   Urban(%)   Rural(%)  Romania  52,7  47,3  55,1  44,9  North-East  40,6   59,4   43,1  56,9 South-East  54,6  45,4  55,1  44,9 South Muntenia 39,7  60,3  41,4  58,6  South-West Oltenia 43,8  56,2  47,9  52,1  West  60,9  39,1  62,9  37,1  North-West  51,1  48,9  53,3  46,7 Centre  58,4  41,6  59,3  40,7 Bucureşti-Ilfov   87,9  12,1  91,9  8,1 Scientific Papers  Series  Management , Economic Engineering in Agriculture  and Rural Development  Vol. 13,   Issue  2,  2013 PRINT  ISSN  2284-7995,   E-ISSN 2285-3952     190 Predominantly  agrarian  regions  are  South Muntenia  (58,6%),  North-East  Region (56,9%)  and  South-West  Oltenia  Region (52,1%).  Table 2. Population of Romania by areas of residence and gender   Year Total   Male   Female   Urban (%) Rural (%) Urban (%) Rural (%) Urban (%) Rural (%) 1990  53,22  46,78  52,96  47,04  53,47  46,53 1997  55,01  44,99  54,40  45,60  55,59  44,41 2004  53,63  46,37  52,71  47,29  54,50  45,50 2010  55,07  44,93  54,01  45,99  56,07  43,93 2011  55,00  45,00  53,89  46,11  56,05  43,95 2012  54,96  45,04  53,82  46,18  56,05  43,95 Source: INS  In  terms  of  population  distribution  by residential  environments,  a  growing percentage  of  urban  population  is  seen  to 54,96%  in  2012  and  decrease  in  rural population  both  male  (46,18%)  and  female (43,95%). It is indicated that in the the whole of  Romania,  the  share  urban  population  of females  is  greater  than  that  of  males,  while the rural share of females is lower than that of males. A  reference  for  the  population  profile  is  age structure.  Distribution  by  age  of  population shows that between 2002 and 2010, the aging of the population has increased. During  this  period  the  share  of  young population up to 15 years of age decreased from 18,5% to 16,0% for males and for females, from 16,8% to 14,3%, At the same time, the share of persons  aged  65  and  over  increased  by  0,4 percentage  points  for  men  (from  12,0%  to 12,4%) and  1,2  percentage points for  women (from 16,1% to 17,3%), The process is more pronounced in rural areas. In the period 2002-2010, the share of population aged 65 and over in the total rural population has decreased (from 15,3% to 15,1%) for males and  in  urban  areas  increased  (from  8,8%  to 10,0%).  In contrast, share of females rose in both rural (from 20,7% to 21,7%) as in urban areas (from 12,0% to 13,8%).  Table 3. Population of Romania, by gender, age groups and residence environments, in the 2002 and 1st of July 2010 Censuses   Romania  Urban  Rural   2002  2010  2002  2010  2002  2010   Male Total (Thousand persons) of which  in %: 10568,7  10434,1  5493,4  5632,7  5075,3  4801,4 Under  15 years  of age 18,5  16,0  17,0  14,7  20,2  17,4 15-24 years  of age 16,3  14,3  18,2  14,4  14,3  14,3  25-34 years  of age 17,3  16,6  17,8  18  16,8  15,0 35-44 years  of age 12,4  16,5  13,6  16,7  11,0  16,3 45-54 years  of age 13,9  12,6  16,0  13,7  11,6  11,3 55-64 years  of age 9,6  11,6  8,6  12,5  10,8  10,6 65-74 years  of age 8,2  7,4  6,1  6,3  10,3  8,6 Over  75 years  of age 3,8  5,0  2,7  3,7  5,0  6,5   Romania  Urban  Rural   2002  2010  2002  2010  2002  2010 Female Total (Thousand persons) of which  in %: 11112,2  10997,2  5941,6  6166,1  5170,6  4831,1 Under  15 years  of age 16,8  14,3  1,05  12,7  18,8  16,4 15-24 years  of age 14,9  13,0  16,5  13  12,9  13,1  25-34 years  of age 16,1  15,0  17,5  16,4  14,4  13,2 35-44 years  of age 11,8  15,3  14,3  16,4  8,9  13,8 45-54 years  of age 13,8  12,5  15,6  14,5  11,9  9,8 55-64 years  of age 10,6  12,6  9,0  13,0  12,4  12,0 65-74 years  of age 10,1  9,5  7,6  7,8  13,0  11,6 Over  75 years  of age 6,0  7,8  4,4  6,0  7,7  10,1 Source: INS  Birth rate Demographic decline of the population does not come from increased mortality, but from the  declining  of  birth  rates  well  below replacement level of generations.   Scientific Papers  Series  Management , Economic Engineering in Agriculture  and Rural Development  Vol. 13,   Issue  2,  2013 PRINT  ISSN  2284-7995,   E-ISSN 2285-3952     191 Table 4, Live births and birth rates, by residence, in 1990-2011*   Total  Urban  Rural Year  Number  Rate (%)  Number  Rate(%)  Number  Rate(%) 1990   314746  13,6  156950  12,9  157796  14,3 1995   236640  10,4  109722  8,9  126918  12,3 2000   234521  10,5  108254  8,9  126267  12,3 2005   221020  10,2  117780  9,9  103240  10,6 2010   212199  9,9  117851  10,0  94348  9,8 2011  196242  9,2  106667  9,1  89575  9,3 Source: INS* in 1000 inhabitants,  In  2011,  the  number  of  live  births  was  of 196,200,  lower  with  118,500  compared  to 1990, seen as a pronounced decrease trend. It is  noted  that  in  the  period  1990-2011,  the birth  rate  was  higher  in  rural  areas  than  in urban areas, with the exception in 2010, when the birth rate in urban areas was 0.2% higher than in the countryside. The  birth  rate  is  trending  downward  since 1990,  in  both  areas  of  residence,  in  recent years  one  can  see  an  approximation  of  the size  of  the  birth  rates  by  residence  due  to higher birth rates in urban areas.  Table  5.  Distribution  of  live  births  by  mother's education levelin the period 1994-2010   1994  1998  2004  2006  2008  2010 TOTAL  100,0  100,0  100,0  100,0  100,0  100,0 PRIMARY  7,8  9,1  9,2  8,9  8,9  9,1 SECONDARY  38,5  37,0  33,2  29,4  27,5  24,7 VOCATIONAL  13,0  11,6  11,1  11,7  11,5  10,2 HIGH SCHOOL  33,7  30,9  26,1  25,4  23,1  21,8 POST HIGH SCHOOL 0,6  1,9  4,2  4,5  3,8  3,3 UPPER  3,7  5,2  10,5  13,6  17,4  24,9 OTHER SITUATIONS 2,7  4,3  5,7  6,5  7,8  6,0 Source: INS  Further development of children depends on the level  of education of mothers.  In recent years,  the  share  of  newborn  children  whose mothers have a low education level (primary and  secondary)  showed  a  downward  trend from  46,3%  in  1994  to  33,8%  in  2010.  Similarly,  the  percentage  of  children  whose mothers  have  an  intermediate  level  training (vocational and high school) decreased from 40,7% in 1994 to 32,0% in 2010. A growing trend,  significant  even  after  2004,  is  in  the percentage of children registered as newborns whose mothers have a relatively high level of education (post high school and upper). It was of 14,7% in 2004 and 28,2% in 2010. [3] Percentage  of  children  born  outside marriage In Romania, the number and, respectively, the percentage  of  children  born  outsidemarriage has increased.   Table 6. The share of live births by the legal situation during 1995-2010(%)   1995  1999  2003  2007  2009  2010  WITHIN MARRIAGE (%) 80,3  75,9  71,8  73,3  72,0  72,3 OUTSIDE MARRIAGE (%) 19,7  24,1  28,5  26,7  28,0  27,7 Source: INS  In  2010,  this  ratio  was  27,7%  compared  to 19,7% in 1995 and 26,7% in 2001.  Table 7. The share of live births by the legal situation and residence environment during 1995-2010(%)   1995  1999  2003  2007  2008  2010 URBAN WITHIN MARRIAGE 82,9  78,1  75,8  76,5  75,9  76,7 OUTSIDE MARRIAGE 17,1  21,9  24,2  23,5  24,1  23,3 RURAL  WITHIN MARRIAGE 77,9  74,1  68,3  69,6  68,7  66,2 OUTSIDE MARRIAGE 22,1  25,8  31,7  30,4  31,3  33,8 Source: INS  Increase  in  the  proportion  of  children  born outside marriage was registered in both areas of  residence,  but  was  more  pronounced  in rural areas. During 1995-2010, the percentage of  children  born  outside  marriage  had increased in urban areas from 17,1% to 23,3% and in rural areas from 22,1% to 33,8%. Rank of alive new-born Most  couples,  respectively,  women  opt  to have one or two children.   Table 8. Distribution of live births born by rank, in the period 1992-2010(%) RANK OF ALIVE NEW-BORN 1992  1998  2004  2006  2008  2009  2010 TOTAL  100,0  100,0  100,0  100,0  100,0  100,0  100,0 I  53,9  53,0  52,4   53,3  53,4  53,0  52,4 II  26,3  29,2  29,4   29,9  29,7  30,3  30,6 III  8,5  8,6  9,0  8,6  8,6  8,5  8,7 IV  4,2  3,9  4,1  3,6  3,6  3,7  3,7 V  2,5  2,0  2,1  1,9  2  1,9  1,9 VI+  4,6  3,3  3,0  2,7  2,7  2,6  2,7 Source: INS  Scientific Papers  Series  Management , Economic Engineering in Agriculture  and Rural Development  Vol. 13,   Issue  2,  2013 PRINT  ISSN  2284-7995,   E-ISSN 2285-3952     192 The structure of live births by rank shows that in Romania, in the last 18 years, around 50% of babies were ranked I and between 25-30,% of rank II. This means that only about 20% of total newborn children, belong to families with more than two children, a determinant factor in ensuring the balance between generations. Nuptiality rate Number  of  marriages  per  1000  inhabitants (Nuptiality  rate)  declined  steadily  during 1990-2011, both in rural and in urban areas from  7,5  ‰  or  9,1  ‰  in  1990  to  3,9  ‰ respectively 5,8 ‰ in 2011.   Table 9. Nuptiality rate, by area of residence (‰), in the period 1990-2011   1990  1996  2002  2006  2008  2010  2011 Total  8,3  6,7  5,9  6,8  6,9  5,4  4,9 Urban  9,1  6,9  6,6  8,1  8,2  6,4  5,8 Rural  7,5  6,4  5,1  5,2  5,4  4,2  3,9 Source: INS  Table 10. The average age of spouses by environments, gender, in the period 1991-2011(years)     1991  1995  2000  2005  2010  2011 Urban  Male  27,5  28,6  29,4  31,3  31,5  31,2  Female  24,7  25,6  26,3  28  28,4  28,2 Rural  Male  26,1  27,2  28,2  29,7  30,1  30,6 Female  22,4  23,2  24,0  25,3  26,1  26,6 Source: INS  Average age at marriage has increased in both rural and urban area.  The largest increase during the period studied in  rural  areas  is  4.5  years  for  men  and  4.2 years for female. Divorce rate At  the  same  time  it  is  highlighted  that divorces  increase  constantly  in  rural  areas, while in urban areas the number of divorces is variable with a maximum of 28,702 in 1998. Fertility The  total  fertility  rate  indicates  the  balance between generations, very important in terms of  the  relationship  between  changes  in population  and  socio-economic  development in the long term. In the European countries, including  Romania,there  was  for  some  time signaled the downward trend in fertility rates.   Fig.1.  The  number  of  divorces,  by  residential environments, in the period 1990-2011  Table  11.The  number  of  divorces,  by  residential environments, in the period 1990-2011   1990  1996  1998  2004  2008  2010  2011 Urban  25553  26389  28702  25134  24806  22144  25152 Rural  7413  9197  11283  10091  10879  10488  10628 Source: INS  Romania  has  seen  a  significant  fall  in  total fertility  rates  after  1990,  it  practically stabilized  since  1995  at  an  average  of  1,3 children born by a woman during her fertile life, well below that estimated by experts as the  need  for  simple  replacement  of generations  in  time (2,1 children in  average for a woman).  Table 12. The fertility rates, in the period 1990-2010(%) Year  General fertility rate  Total fertility rate 1990   56,2   1,8  1991   48,7   1,6  1993   44,3   1,4  1995   41,1   1,3  2000   40,3   1,3  2001   37,8   1,2  2005   39,4   1,3  2009   41,0   1,4  2010   39,4   1,3  Source: INS  The  fertility  rates  specific  for  different  age groups with the highest intake at birth (20-24 years and 25-29 years) decreased over time. For example, during 1990-2005, the fertility rate of women in the age group 20-24 years halved,  and  for  the  group  25-29  years,  the Scientific Papers  Series  Management , Economic Engineering in Agriculture  and Rural Development  Vol. 13,   Issue  2,  2013 PRINT  ISSN  2284-7995,   E-ISSN 2285-3952     193 fertility rate decreased slightly until the late '90s, which then saw a slight increase.  Table 13, Fertility rates by age*, in the period 1990-2010(%) Year 15-19 years of age 20-24 years of age 25-29 years of age 30-34 years of age 35-39 years of age 40-44 years of age 45-49 years of age  1990   51,5   145,2   97,8   46,4   19,4   5,5   0,4  1991   49,8   131,1   78,6   34,2   13,9   4,0   0,3  1993   47,0   124,6   74,2   28,3   11,4   3,2   0,3  1994   45,0   119,3   75,8   28,7   11,3   3,2   0,2  1995   42,0   109,5   73,4   29,4   11,0   3,1   0,2  2000   39,0   90,2   78,5   38,7   13,4   3,1   0,2  2001   35,8   82,2   73,8   37,4   13,7   3,0   0,2  2005   33,5   73,3   83,9   51,8   18,7   3,6   0,2  2007   35,2   66,5   81,0   54,4   18,3   3,9   0,2  2009   39,3   67,5   82,7   59,4   22,1   4,7   0,2  2010   36,9   62,3   79,9   59,2   23,3   4,6   0,2  Source:  INS *number of live births per 1000 women in that age group  Table 14, Mortality rates, by residence and gener, in 1990-2011* Year Total  Male  Female Urban  Rural  Urban  Rural  Urban  Rural 1990  40,20%  59,80%  40,88%  59,12%  39,42%  60,58% 1991  40,30%  59,70%  41,25%  58,75%  39,21%  60,79% 1992  40,47%  59,53%  41,42%  58,58%  39,36%  60,64% 1993  40,82%  59,18%  41,68%  58,32%  39,80%  60,20% 1994  40,88%  59,12%  41,73%  58,27%  39,85%  60,15% 1995  41,30%  58,70%  42,04%  57,96%  40,41%  59,59% 1996  40,69%  59,31%  41,57%  58,43%  39,66%  60,34% 1997  41,53%  58,47%  42,26%  57,74%  40,64%  59,36% 1998  41,88%  58,12%  42,62%  57,38%  41,02%  58,98% 1999  41,92%  58,08%  42,74%  57,26%  40,98%  59,02% 2000  42,39%  57,61%  43,01%  56,99%  41,68%  58,32% 2001  42,40%  57,60%  42,86%  57,14%  41,85%  58,15% 2002  41,99%  58,01%  42,63%  57,37%  41,24%  58,76% 2003  42,12%  57,88%  42,72%  57,28%  41,43%  58,57% 2004  44,16%  55,84%  44,55%  55,45%  43,70%  56,30% 2005  44,57%  55,43%  44,96%  55,04%  44,12%  55,88% 2006  45,09%  54,91%  45,50%  54,50%  44,64%  55,36% 2007  45,47%  54,53%  45,81%  54,19%  45,08%  54,92% 2008  45,16%  54,84%  45,51%  54,49%  44,77%  55,23% 2009  45,16%  54,84%  45,22%  54,78%  45,10%  54,90% 2010  45,29%  54,71%  45,65%  54,35%  44,88%  55,12% 2011  45,60%  54,40%  45,65%  54,35%  45,53%  54,47% Source: INS* in 1000 inhabitants  General mortality For understanding of some basic features of developments in the Romanian population in recent  years  and  its  health  indicators, mortality is a good starting point. As the main statistical  indicators  show,  mortality  among males  was  and  remained  higher  than  the mortality  of  females.  Another  feature  is  the fact that mortality is higher in rural areas than in  urban  areas,  both  in  male  and  in  female persons.  The  phenomenon  of  "male supramortality" continued to be recorded both in urban and rural areas, though with higher values in urban areas.   CONCLUSIONS  Change  reproductive  behavior  of  rural population,  a  drastic  reduction  in  the  birth rate. 1.The birth rate was higher in rural areas than in  urban  areas,  with  the  exception  in  2010, when the birth rate in urban areas was 0.2% higher than in the countryside. 2.Distribution by age of population shows that between  2002  and  2010,  the  aging  of  the population has increased. 3.The  share  of  persons  aged  65  and  over increased  by  0,4  percentage  points  for  men (from  12,0%  to  12,4%)  and  1,2  percentage points  for  women  (from  16,1%  to  17,3%), The  process  is  more  pronounced  in  rural areas. 4.Further development of children depends on the level of education of mothers. The share of  newborn  children  whose  mothers  have  a low education level (primary and secondary) showed a downward trend. A growing trend, significant  even  after  2004,  is  in  the percentage of children registered as newborns whose mothers have a relatively high level of education. 5.Increase in the proportion of children born outside marriage was registered in both areas of  residence,  but  was  more  pronounced  in rural areas. 6.Only about 20% of total newborn children, belong  to  families  with  more  than  two children, a determinant factor in ensuring the balance between generations. 7.Average  age  at  marriage  has  increased  in both rural and urban area. Scientific Papers  Series  Management , Economic Engineering in Agriculture  and Rural Development  Vol. 13,   Issue  2,  2013 PRINT  ISSN  2284-7995,   E-ISSN 2285-3952     194 8.Divorces  increase  constantly  in  rural  areas, while  in  urban  areas the number  of  divorces  is variable with a maximum of 28,702 in 1998. 9.Romania has seen a significant fall in total fertility  rates  after  1990,  it  practically stabilized  since  1995  at  an  average  of  1,3 children born by a woman during her fertile life, well below that estimated by experts as the  need  for  simple  replacement  of generations  in  time (2,1 children in  average for a woman). 10.Mortality is higher in rural areas than in urban areas, both in male and in female persons  REFERENCES  [1]Ghebrea,  Georgeta,  2000,  Regim  social  politic  si viata privata ( Familia si politica familiala in Romania), Ed.Universittaii Bucuresti, 7-11 [2]www.insse.ro Tempo online [3] www.insse.ro Tempo sociale, 2011        

CURRENT TRENDS OF ROMANIAN RURAL FAMILY

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