Policy puzzles with the employment of Roma

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report typesChapter

Abstract (may include machine translation)

Roma are the largest non-migrant ethnic minority group in Europe and an extremely vulnerable one. Their population is estimated to be between 9 and 12 million (roughly equal to the population of Belgium) and in comparison with the rest of the continent, it is a young population with a higher-than-average share of working-age individuals. 1 In contrast with other ethnic minority groups, they have no historical homeland and live spread across most European countries, but they are particularly concentrated in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Spain, Serbia and Slovakia, which are home to over half of Europe’s Roma. 2 In some European countries, the widespread exclusion of Roma from the primary labour market adds considerably to the challenge of meeting the Europe 2020 target of an employment rate of 75% for those aged 20-65. The estimated economic and fiscal costs of the exclusion of Roma from the formal labour market are staggering, ranging from€ 231 million in Serbia to€ 887 million in Romania. 3 Furthermore, Roma are a young population with relatively high fertility rates, and therefore can and should be regarded as an important resource in ageing European societies. However, in spite of numerous ways and funds to support the Roma population in European societies, their labour market situation has not improved significantly. Most of the programmes are not efficient and do not actually reach out to vulnerable Roma. In this chapter, therefore, we examine the most important factors behind the poor employment situation for Roma and potentials for active labour market policies (ALMPs) to influence
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationGreen, Pink & Silver?
Subtitle of host publicationThe Future of Labour in Europe
EditorsMiroslav Beblavý, Ilaria Maselli, Marcela Veselková
Place of PublicationBrussels
PublisherCenter for European Policy Studies (CEPS)
Pages174-196
Number of pages23
Volume2
ISBN (Print)9789461384447
StatePublished - 2015

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