ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by the general impact of the ongoing crisis on the health, nutrition, and education of Albanian children and compares those findings to studies from other countries. Concentrating mainly on families, it analyses how adults deal economically and emotionally with economic hardship and how this affects their psychological well-being. The chapter also focuses on the general impact of economic crisis and adults’ coping behavior on children, neglecting interactive effects. Research on the impact of economic hardship and unemployment on psychological well-being usually shows men to be more affected than women, probably because of their role as breadwinners. For some parents, economic problems have become so overwhelming that they must send their children to work. Economic crisis usually is accompanied by reductions in food supply. Because nearly all food-producing industry has closed and many fields lie fallow, Albania suffers from a considerable food shortage.
