Romania is seeking solutions to the labor shortage through immigration, digitalization and automation while depriving the economy of one of the most important internal reserves of economic growth: women's participation in the labor market, argues the National Confederation for Women's Entrepreneurship (CONAF).

'Our country records the third-largest employment gap between women and men in the European Union—18.1 percentage points—ranking behind Italy and Greece. For women with young children, the employment rate is approximately 57%, compared to nearly 70% across the European Union, according to Eurostat. In rural areas, only 44% of women are employed, versus approximately 65% in the European Union (source: Eurostat). These disparities reflect a portion of the human capital that the Romanian economy leaves unproductive,' the organization stated in a press release.

According to the cited source, one of the structural causes is the insufficient early education and care infrastructure. In Romania, only 11.4% of children under three years old benefit from formal care services, compared to the European Union average of 39.3%. In addition, Romania has set a national target of 22.5% for 2030, while the European objective is 45%.

In developed economies, care infrastructure is no longer seen exclusively as a social policy but is treated as economic infrastructure, as it enables participation in work, expands the taxpayer base, supports productivity and contributes to economic growth, CONAF points out. If this infrastructure is missing, the economy loses workforce before it can produce added value, the Confederation specifies.

'In Romania, the responsibility of childcare continues to fall disproportionately on women. For many of them, returning to work is not limited by a lack of skills or professional opportunities, but by the lack of accessible early education and care services. Research by Nobel Prize laureate in Economics, Claudia Goldin, shows that the availability of these services directly influences women's participation in the labor market and the evolution of their long-term incomes. This is also the reason why one of the smallest gender pay gaps in the European Union, of 3.6%, cannot be interpreted in isolation as evidence of an almost achieved economic equality. The pay gap is calculated exclusively for employed people. When women's participation in the labor market is reduced, the wage indicator only captures the reality of those who have already managed to enter the economy', the cited document also states.

In this context, CONAF President Cristina Chiriac believes that it is not only investments in factories, highways or technology that build the competitiveness of an economy, but also the infrastructure that allows people to work. For hundreds of thousands of parents, this infrastructure starts with a nursery, she says.

'Every missing place in a nursery can mean a parent who postpones their return to work, an employer who cannot find staff, taxes and contributions that do not reach the budget and economic value that Romania loses before it produces it. Early education and care are not just social policies. They are the infrastructure of economic participation. Countries that have understood this have invested in nurseries not only to support families, but to increase employment, productivity and competitiveness of the economy. Romania cannot afford to treat one of the most profitable public investments as a simple expense. The cost of inaction is paid every day through fewer people in the workforce, less economic growth and fewer opportunities for generations to come,' Cristina Chiriac stated in the statement.

Under these conditions, Gabriel Biris, member of the CONAF Board of Directors, argues that the reintroduction of the tax credit for nurseries and kindergartens should not be seen as a loss of revenue to the budget, but as a measure with fiscal and economic efficiency.

'A parent who can return to work sooner produces value, pays taxes and contributions, and a child who has access to early education has a greater chance of becoming an economically active adult. At the same time, this measure supports birth rates, employment and competitiveness. There are few fiscal instruments that can produce simultaneous effects on the labor market, education and the future taxpayer base. The tax credit for nurseries and kindergartens is one of them,' Gabriel Biris pointed out.

CONAF was established in response to the need to create a modern, sustainable, and equitable entrepreneurial culture—not only for female entrepreneurship but for the entire business environment. The organization comprises 33 branches, three federations, 16 employers' associations, 55 associations, and 15,000 companies employing over 245,000 people.

Among the projects carried out by CONAF are the 'Youth Pact', the 'Marathon for Entrepreneurship Education', the 'Entrepreneurial Vocation' Forum, the '24 Trends for 2024' Forum, SupraTAX, 'DigitalUP' 'Labor Pact' - in partnership with FPPG, the 'Entrepreneurial Education Pact', the 'Romanian Venture Forum' - the series of open dialogues, and 'Romanian Tourism: Between Impasse and Opportunity'.AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Andreea Marinescu; EN - writing by: Catalin Cristian Trandafir)