Romanian orphans

The standard of living for Romanian orphans is still problematic despite vast improvements since their conditions were leaked to the West after the fall of the Communist government in 1989. A news report on the American newsmagazine 20/20, which first aired on October 5, 1990, was the first to show the conditions in full detail on television.

Under Nicolae Ceauşescu, both abortion and contraception were forbidden. Ceausescu believed that population growth would lead to economic growth, which is what the country needed. In October 1966, the Decree 770 was enacted, which banned abortion except in cases in which the mother was over 40 years old or already had four children in care. Birth rates especially rose during the years of 1967, 1968 and 1969. By 1977, people were taxed for being childless. Children born in these years are popularly known as decreței (from the Romanian language word "decret", meaning "decree", diminutive "decrețel"). This increase in the number of births resulted in many children being abandoned in orphanages, which were also occupied by people with disabilities and mental illnesses. Together, these vulnerable groups were subjected to institutionalized neglect, physical and sexual abuse, and drug use to control behavior.

In the 1980s, Nicolae Ceauşescu enacted the 1980s austerity policy in Romania, in order to pay Romania's external debt. As such, living standards dropped dramatically, and food was rationed and the struggle of families was made worse. Housing conditions also got worse, with large families being cramped in small apartments. This period also coincided with mass population migration from rural areas to cities.Overcrowding in homes became an issue; most of these families being housed in standardized apartment blocks that were built in large numbers across Romanian cities during systematization.

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Wikipedia