Publication: Moldova - The Consequences of Several Shocks for Consumption and Poverty
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2009-09-17
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2009-09-17
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The distribution of consumption in Moldova implies that changes in workers' remittances, migration, and energy prices could influence consumption and poverty rates in some unexpected and even counter-intuitive ways. Relatively well-off groups, rather than the poor, benefit most from remittances and have the most to lose from a decline. The burden of an energy price shock is spread through the economy, although the poor are most affected because they consume somewhat more energy in proportion to their consumption. The consumption of relatively wealthy groups is linked directly to price of natural gas, while the consumption of the poor is linked more directly to the price of wood fuel. And, child poverty is most closely linked to family dissolution, rather than to migration in itself. Migrants come disproportionately from relatively rich households, and this is true even after adjustment for the income received from remittances. The conclusion is to urge research into the dynamics of family solidarity and dissolution in Moldova, since this may suggest interventions to reduce child poverty. To deepen understanding of child poverty, it will be useful to collect the data necessary to construct better indicators of outcomes for children with absent parents, for instance, on their school attendance, educational achievement, and nutrition.
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“World Bank. 2009. Moldova - The Consequences of Several Shocks for Consumption and Poverty. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3117 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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