Deanda Jushi
Elda was 36 years old when she lost her husband and was left alone with her two children.
Resident in Tiranaë, ten years later, she tells about the challenges of her two children who were orphaned by their father. Alone in this challenge with one 15-year-old child, the other only 6, She confesses with tears in her eyes that she felt abandoned twice, by fate and by the state.
The pain was great, but the procedures he faced afterwards made it even more severe.
“They told us that the state would help us,” says Elda. “They asked for my death certificate, my children’s ID cards, other documents, and they told me: you have the right to receive 70% of your husband’s pension. When I received my first payment, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It was 8 new lek per month at the time, today it’s 99 new lek. You can’t even buy a bag of flour or two cartons of milk with that.”
Elda worked two jobs for years. "I sacrificed every day so that they wouldn't lack the necessary. But, alas, I can never say that the state supported me. The amount was minimal. I raised the children myself... With great difficulty. Today the son is finishing high school while the daughter is preparing to enter next year, but only thanks to our persistence, not the system."
Elda's story is no exception.
The 1996 Law on the Status of Orphans, a law that has not been changed for almost 30 years, no matter how and how much life, prices, and society have changed.
Old law, new reality
The 1996 law and its accompanying decisions define who is considered an “orphan” and what financial support they are entitled to. The first problem begins right there: the criteria for obtaining this status are unfair and absurd!
A child who has lost one parent is not considered an orphan, so he does not benefit from the status, unless the surviving parent is in extreme hardship and manages to apply for economic assistance, or benefits from a reduced pension from the deceased parent's insurance.
Meanwhile, a child born out of wedlock may receive orphan status even if both parents are alive, if the father is not legally registered.
Suela Koçibellinj, a children's rights activist, calls this a legal paradox.
"This law recognizes as an orphan a child born out of wedlock while both parents are alive, but excludes from the status a child whose one parent has died."
While based on Albanian law, orphan status is granted by the State Social Service (SSSSH), by a commission of specialists at the directorate level, which also includes a representative of the Orphans' Association of Albania, in cases where both parents are not living or the court removes the rights of both parents even if they are alive.
This has meant that a significant number of orphans from one parent do not receive any real assistance from the state. An orphan "officially" receives a full 9.900 lek per month.
ACQJ turned to the Social Service to understand the financial treatment provided by the state. According to the official response of the Social Service, for the month of September 2025, there are only 1254 active beneficiaries of orphan status in all of Albania, of which 567 are in Tirana alone.
"The amount of economic assistance for each orphan is 9900 lek per month. This assistance is provided to orphans who are not in institutions until the moment of their employment."
9.900 lek per month. 330 lek per day!
This benefit comes when you have neither shelter nor secured employment. What happens after the age of 18? Nothing. You are simply an adult, therefore forgotten. From that moment on, every “adult” must provide for his or her own living.
But this problem does not stop there. The Social Service reports that in Tirana, in 2024, only 2 young people with orphan status were integrated into work. In 2025, only 4.
Furthermore, the figures provided show that at the national level, 31 young people were integrated in 2024. In 2025, only 17.
This means that out of 1254 orphans who receive payment, only about 20-30 per year manage to be officially employed.
No data on what happens to them, what path they follow, what challenges they face, and above all, how many of them, in conditions of economic impossibility, end up on the wrong path!
Suela Koçibelinj states that "The system fails by definition. The financial support of 10.000 lek per month has tripled in three years, but it is still not enough to meet basic needs. The cost of living has increased manifold."
Housing, the drama that doesn't end at 18!
In Tirana or other cities, housing has become difficult and almost unaffordable under normal conditions, with two employed parents, so housing for those without parents is the biggest drama faced by orphans in our country.
"Rent costs in Albania are unaffordable even for those with regular jobs, let alone for orphans who leave institutions without any family support," emphasizes Koçibellinj.
The insecurity of housing, the cost of food, clothing, and insecure work, she says, cause many of these young people to end up on the streets or fall prey to trafficking, exploitation, and addictions.
In Lezha, ACQJ has identified an example that works, but is not state-owned.
In Shenkoll, two Catholic priests have opened a home for 20 abandoned or parentless boys.
Bringing back hope and a warm oasis for the orphans of this area.
"Before I came here, I was stopped by the police. I didn't go to school, I spent all day on the streets. Now I'm in school, Father Alessandro taught me Italian, and I help others. Here I'm a human being, not a burden," says Mateo, 17.
The Mateos case shows that when there is real care, orphans do not become a social problem, but human potential.
As time passes and he receives some funds, Father Alessandro shows that he collaborates with the school psychologist, at the delicate age of adolescence, trying to cover expenses, as well as dignified living conditions in their home.
Above all, spending free time and group activities are the main concern for the two priests. Fate has not been fair to them, so it is our duty to compensate for their pain and challenge - says Father Alessandro
Public institutions chose silence.
ACQJ has contacted the Orphans Association, which promised to respond to this article, which focuses on raising concerns about orphans, but as of the time of publication of this article, it has not responded.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Health and Social Work chose to remain silent with three direct questions on this issue:
- What is the annual budget that the state allocates specifically for orphans?
- Is there indexation of the orphan's payment to the cost of living?
- Which municipalities are not enforcing their housing and employment laws?
These questions would help us understand the approach that the state will have, at least for the future, and the reconciliation between central and local government to provide jobs, housing, and employment.
But as of the time of publication, the main institution on this issue has not provided any response.
When the Socialist Party came to power in 2013, one of the main promises was precisely to help marginalized groups.
When Erion Veliaj was elected to the Municipality of Tirana, on his first day in office he appeared to care for a child from a marginalized group. However, the reality is far from what is promised in the electoral campaigns.
In Albania, orphaned children are not treated as children in need of support, but as numbers on a minimum wage list.
The law has not been updated for 29 years. Economic assistance is less than the price of a city subscription. Housing is unaffordable. Employment is more myth than reality. And above all, children who lose only one parent are treated almost as invisible to the Albanian state.
Elda raised her children not because the state helped her, but because there was no other way. Mateo was saved not by social policies, but by two devoted priests.
Activist Kiçibellinj warns that if the criteria do not change, pain will continue to be processed into bureaucratic formulas.
Therefore, the question that arises is - Will Albania continue to count the life of a child at 9.900 lek per month?
