Social Inequalities and the Evolution of Social Sustainability in Romania (2008–2024)
Social Inequalities and the Evolution of Social Sustainability in Romania (2008–2024)

Summary/Abstract: This article investigates the relationship between social inequalities and social sustainability in Romania during the period 2008–2024, with reference to the objectives established under the Romanian National Sustainable Development Strategy 2030 (SNDDR 2030) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals framework. The study adopts a quantitative research design based on secondary data obtained from the National Institute of Statistics and examines eight socio-economic indicators reflecting income distribution, poverty, social exclusion, material deprivation, social protection expenditures, economic performance, and labour productivity. Pearson correlation analysis, complemented by OLS diagnostic procedures, is employed to assess statistical associations among the selected variables and evaluate the robustness of the empirical results. The findings indicate substantial improvements across several dimensions of social sustainability, particularly regarding reductions in poverty and severe material deprivation. Social protection expenditures display the strongest associations with improvements in poverty- and exclusion-related outcomes, whereas labour productivity growth exhibits weak and statistically non-significant relationships with the social indicators included in the analysis. These results suggest that improvements in economic performance do not automatically translate into stronger social sustainability outcomes. When evaluated against the targets established by SNDDR 2030, Romania has made considerable progress in reducing poverty and social exclusion; however, the current pace of improvement remains insufficient to fully achieve several national commitments by 2030. In addition, the productivity slowdown observed toward the end of the study period may pose challenges for future employment growth and socio-economic convergence. Overall, the results highlight the importance of effective redistributive policies, broader social protection coverage, and sustained investment in the social dimension of sustainable development in order to strengthen long-term social sustainability in Romania.

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