People with disabilities in 2019 make up 6.7% of the total population of Moldova.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the number of persons with disabilities in Moldova is 177 thousand people, including 10.7 thousand children under the age of 17. Children with disabilities make up almost 1.9% of the total number of children in Moldova. Almost 57% of people with disabilities live in rural areas, and over the past 5 years this indicator has grown by 5.5 percentage points. About 71.3% (126.1 thousand) of people with disabilities in Moldova receive a disability pension, 28.7% - social benefits (50.8 thousand people). The average size of a disability pension in 2019 amounted to 1430.5 lei against 1901.1 lei for all pensioners. Depending on the degree of disability, its size varied from 988.1 lei for people with average disabilities to 1763.9 lei for people with severe forms of disability. The average size of a disability pension covers the subsistence minimum for pensioners by only 53.2%, while the average pension in the country covers the subsistence minimum by 63.2%. The living wage in 2019 averaged 2031.2 lei per person per month, respectively, the average pension for a severe form of disability in 2019 covered the subsistence minimum by 70.1%, the amount of pension for severe disability - by 86.8%, and average disability pension - by 48.6%. The minimum pension for persons with disabilities of varying degrees ranges from 539.7 to 809.5 lei and covers the living wage by 26.6-39.9%. According to the NBS, over the past 5 years, the size of state social benefits for children with disabilities has grown by 48.2%. The average amount of the allowance for children with severe disabilities was 808.2 lei, with an average form of disability since childhood - 787.2 lei. It is noted that persons with severe disabilities also use the allowance for care and support, its amount is 863.5 lei, last year it was used by about 15 thousand people. Persons with disabilities caused by hostilities (2.8 thousand people) received a monthly state allowance of 575.8 lei. At the same time, 114.4 thousand people, whose disability pensions did not reach 1.5 thousand lei, received financial support in the amount of 100 to 180 lei. In addition, people with disabilities are provided with partial compensation for transport costs (145.5 thousand lei were allocated for this purpose), they can use the services of 67 social canteens, as well as the services of specialized centers and institutions. Herewith, 17.2% of the total number of people with disabilities were employed last year: 33.9% of them worked in the agricultural sector, 15.2% in trade, 13% in educational institutions, in industry and construction ( 12.5%). Recall that the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is marked annually on December 3.// 03.12.2020 — InfoMarket.
