The beginning of this year brought very good news in terms of revenue coming into the pockets of Romanians from 1 February. Thus, both the minimum gross salary of the country and the minimum parental allowance will be increased from the first day of the next month. The gross national minimum wage will increase by 200 lei starting 1st February, according to Government Decision no. 1/2017 that establishes the minimum gross salary per country. In this way, the gross minimum wage will increase from 1,250 lei to 1,450 lei, in case of a complete working program, meaning 166 hours on average per month. This means 8.735 lei / hour. The 16% increase, compared with last year, will have a positive impact in raising living standards, this being also revealed by the value reached by the minimum net wage economy, meaning 1,065 lei, with 140 lei more than in December 2016. In the context of increasing gross minimum wage starting 1st February, we will also see an increase in the monthly parental allowance, which represents 85% of the average net income achieved in the last 12 months, consecutive or not, worked over the last two years before childbirth. Specifically, in the second month of the year, the parental allowance will be minimum 1232.5 lei (85% of 1,450 lei, representing the minimum wage). Currently, the minimum parental allowance is 1062.5 lei. The new year brings good news for parents who choose to return to work faster. Thus, the incentive insertion increases from 531.25 to 616.25 lei. It is, in fact, half of the minimum parental allowance.