Romania and Moldova broaden maternity benefits for mothers

Romania has amended its pension law to allow mothers who raised children to retire up to three years and a half early, with the reduction proportionate to the number of children they bore or adopted. A mother of one child can retire six months earlier, two children one year earlier, three children one year and six months earlier, and the benefit increases up to three and a half years for seven or more children, provided the full contribution period has been completed and the children were raised to the required ages.

Moldova approved legislation that extends maternity indemnity to unmarried mothers. The benefit will be calculated on the insured income of the child’s father if paternity is recognized, eliminating the previous distinction based on the parents' marital status.