Like many other women in Moldova, 30-year-old Mariana is finding it hard to find a decent job despite her high level of education.
Her prospects are even difficult as she has a child, and most companies are reluctant to hire working mothers.
“I’ve been to several interviews in recent months and employers told me bluntly they are not interested in a woman who has a kid in kindergarten, who might have to stay at home if their children get a cold,” Marian told BIRN with a grim face.
Experts say women’s limited access to jobs or promotion inside companies reflects the fact that women in Moldova traditionally stay at home and raise their children to the age of three, because state-run childcare services and kindergartens only take children after this age.