Romania: Subsistence Farming After Imposed Industrialisation

Abstract

During the transition to the market economy, real earnings fell sharply. The existence of an underground economy generally deemed to have grown at a worryingly fast rate has had a strong effect on the (rising) level and distribution of income (increase in inequalities). The Communist regimes extensive housing estate building programme, mainly in the urban areas, gave virtually all Romanian citizens housing. These State-owned dwellings were sold to their tenants after 1989, such that 95% of households now own their own housing. However, the downturn in construction in the 1990s prompted a housing crisis. Housing conditions remain poor particularly in the rural areas. The frequency of poverty is particularly high in rural areas where a large proportion of households have low earnings, and sub-standard dwellings. A high percentage of urban households also have to deal with the pressure of growing financial difficulties due to unemployment and low pension payments.Multiple Dimensions of Poverty, Socialist Country in Transition, Romania