Home and Families in Communist Romania
Home and Families in Communist Romania

Summary/Abstract: Approaches to the subject of family life under communism cannot overlook the problem of housing and habitation during this period. During the early years of communism, a flat in a block, in the city, was the dream of all the young people who did not own anything. In the 1960s, these blocks gave many the possibility of having a home. Post factum, that is, after 1990, the opposite trend, of escape from such blocks, began to emerge and apartments built during communism began to be labeled as “matchboxes,” offering improper housing and living conditions. Notwithstanding all this, the ambivalence of Romanian society persists and is stronger than ever: a large part of the population seeking housing continues to prefer purchasing apartments in old apartment blocks, which, ironically or not, are considered to be qualitatively superior to the new ones, as builders have recently often compromised on minimum quality standards. How can this ambivalence be explained? Some possible answers can be found in by combining the historical sources with a survey carried by Romanian Academy in 1981–1982 in some Romanian cities and villages.

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