The Impact of International Labour Migration on the Republic of Moldova

Abstract

Labour migration has an important impact on the social and economic life of Moldova. It is, therefore, very important to measure it, so as to offer policy makers useful information to develop evidence-based policies. The purpose of this research was to identify and measure labour migration impact by analyzing data coming from these three large surveys: the Labour Force Survey, the Labour Force Migration Survey and the Child Labour Survey. Results show that about 26% of the country’s population face all the benefits and costs of labour migration directly. There are 135,000 couples who are separated by migration most of the time. About 146,000 children have one or both parents working abroad. Labour migration is a relieving but also a threatening factor for the labour market. If labour migrants were to search for a job in Moldova, the unemployment rate would reach 26%, higher than the present 7%. Labour migration is also a boosting factor for economic inactivity: 119,000 persons are economically inactive because they have plans to go or return abroad for work. Though not an issue today, labour immigration will probably have a big impact in the future as labour resources will be needed.