Relative poverty causes relative distrust in the southern counties of the country, but there are opportunities to change the situation.

Note: In this text, the phrases "Muntenia" or "southern Romania" do not include the Bucharest-Ilfov area and do not refer to it.

The civic profile of the Romanians is still influenced by the degree of exposure to communism. The older a man is, the more he has experienced compulsory community activities, that is, imposed by the totalitarian regime. Thus, naturally, entire generations have acquired a long-term phobia towards collective and collective activities . This phobia is absent among younger Romanians. Tell me the age profile of an area and I will be able to tell you, at least in part, how receptive that area is to civic activities.

From this point of view, the south of Romania has a relatively minor but significant deficit. Of the resident population of the entire country, according to INS data, 25.7% are 60 years old or older. Above the national average are precisely Oltenia (28.3%), Muntenia (27.8%) and south-eastern Romania (27.5%). Below the national average are the Banat, Transylvania and especially the Bucharest-Ilfov area.

A quasi-identical situation is encountered in economic terms. The financial constraints with which the average inhabitant of Muntenia operates are tougher than those faced by the transylvanian or the typical Bucharestian. In a context where individual or family economic survival is more difficult, the appetite to donate time or other types of resources is limited. And the three development regions in the south are among the last four in Romania in terms of average net salary. In other words, in the list of eight regions, the south is entirely in the second half of the ranking. On average, in the three regions, the average net salary is 2,828 RON. In the rest of the country – excluding Bucharest and Ilfov, which are financially on another planet – it is 158 RON higher. The difference, seemingly not very shocking, must be multiplied by millions of people to understand its impact at the level of communities. The relative poverty rate (in how many households the average income per adult is below 60% of the national median level?) describes a perhaps clearer picture. Relative poverty is present to a significantly higher extent in Oltenia (32% of households), South-Muntenia region (26%) or South-East (31%) than in the center of the country (21%), in Banat (15%) or in the North-West (also 15%).