This paper looks at the situation of vulnerable Roma in the labour market in twelve countries of Central and South Eastern Europe. Data from the 2011 UNDP/WB/EC regional survey on Roma communities are analysed and compared with the 2004 UNDP regional Roma survey in order to gain some understanding of the extent and nature of Roma labour market disadvantage. The paper documents the existence of substantial labour market disadvantage amongst Roma – which is particularly accentuated in the case of women. Positive developments in the form of significant economic and employment growth across much of the region and substantial increases in participation in higher – upper secondary and tertiary - educational levels between 2004 and 2011 have not been translated into anything more than very marginal gains in employment. To some extent this may be attributed to the recession and the tendency for the Global slowdown to hit more marginalized groups in the labour market more severely, however, the analysis also shows that educational differences cannot account for the substantial differences which remain in labour market opportunities between Roma and non-Roma and that a substantial part of this differential is explainable in terms of discrimination and other non-observable factors. School quality seems to be playing a role and there is clear evidence that a major factor underlying Roma/non-Roma wage differences concerns their labour market marginalization and specifically, the heavy concentration of Roma in informal employment. The study ends by arguing in favour of more rigorous impact evaluation of employment initiatives in order to better understand which labour market measures have been and/or are likely to be more effective and why.

Roma and non-Roma in the Labour Market in Central and South Eastern Europe

O'HIGGINS, Shane Niall
2012-01-01

Abstract

This paper looks at the situation of vulnerable Roma in the labour market in twelve countries of Central and South Eastern Europe. Data from the 2011 UNDP/WB/EC regional survey on Roma communities are analysed and compared with the 2004 UNDP regional Roma survey in order to gain some understanding of the extent and nature of Roma labour market disadvantage. The paper documents the existence of substantial labour market disadvantage amongst Roma – which is particularly accentuated in the case of women. Positive developments in the form of significant economic and employment growth across much of the region and substantial increases in participation in higher – upper secondary and tertiary - educational levels between 2004 and 2011 have not been translated into anything more than very marginal gains in employment. To some extent this may be attributed to the recession and the tendency for the Global slowdown to hit more marginalized groups in the labour market more severely, however, the analysis also shows that educational differences cannot account for the substantial differences which remain in labour market opportunities between Roma and non-Roma and that a substantial part of this differential is explainable in terms of discrimination and other non-observable factors. School quality seems to be playing a role and there is clear evidence that a major factor underlying Roma/non-Roma wage differences concerns their labour market marginalization and specifically, the heavy concentration of Roma in informal employment. The study ends by arguing in favour of more rigorous impact evaluation of employment initiatives in order to better understand which labour market measures have been and/or are likely to be more effective and why.
2012
9789295092549
9789295092556
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11386/3928370
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