Pensions no longer cover expenses: elderly people choose between medication and food

The cost-of-living crisis is hitting Romania's most vulnerable groups ever harder, with the elderly among those most severely affected. Many pensioners admit they find themselves having to choose between buying essential medicines and covering basic daily expenses such as food or utility bills.

Pensions, which for a large proportion of recipients remain at modest levels, are no longer keeping pace with inflation and the successive price rises recorded for food, medicines, and utilities. This reality turns every month into a genuine struggle for survival for older people.

The difficult situation does not affect only the elderly. Low-income families, people with disabilities, and those without stable employment face the same financial pressures, painting a worrying social picture at national level.

Specialists and civil society representatives are warning that, without concrete and effective support measures from the authorities, the number of people falling into severe financial hardship risks increasing significantly in the period ahead.

The problem is all the more acute for older people, who face higher medical expenses than the rest of the population, precisely at a time when the purchasing power of their pension is declining in real terms. Many of them depend on costly chronic treatments that are indispensable for maintaining a reasonable quality of life.

In the absence of a robust social protection system and assistance genuinely tailored to the real needs of older people, increasing numbers of Romania's senior citizens risk falling into a vicious cycle of poverty, with serious consequences for both their health and their dignity.