Since the fall of communism an estimated three million people have left Romania.
It is a trend which has often led to divided families and children distressed at the absence of a parent.
The authorities in Romania had been hoping that a lack of work abroad would encourage migrants to return home but a report published last week by the 大象传媒 World Service found most people who'd migrated for work had stayed in their new home countries, even if they'd lost their jobs in the global recession.
Reporter Tessa Dunlop has been following the impact of migration on families in Romania.
She arrived there soon after the fall of Ceausescu, married a Romanian man and now often returns to visit relatives in the east of the country.
She tells Outlook why so many people have been moving, and staying, abroad.