Romanian workers demand lower taxation

Only 69% of Romanians aged between 20 and 64 are in employment, meaning that almost a third of the population does not work.

Transcript

00:00 Romania's National Trade Union has held a protest outside the parliament in Bucharest

00:07 to demand lower rates of tax. Around 3,000 protesters took part, accusing

00:13 the government of taking too much money in social contributions.

00:18 The World Bank says some 5 million Romanians have emigrated in search of better salaries

00:24 abroad since 1989.

00:49 Protesters claim that more than 42% of their gross income goes to the state, compared to

00:54 the EU average of 38%. According to Eurostat data, low wages and

01:01 high taxation caused Romania to register the third lowest employment rate in the EU in

01:07 2023 after Italy and Greece. Only 69% of Romanians aged between 20 and 64

01:15 are in employment, meaning that almost a third of the adult population doesn't work.

01:21 In 2023, Romania had an employed population of 7.7 million people, but only 5.6 million

01:28 paid social security contributions. 2.1 million employed people didn't pay any

01:35 contributions at all, although in some cases they received benefits.

01:39 [MUSIC PLAYING]