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Bratislava, 12 Feb. 2008

Europe and CIS. Roma Employment – Challenges and Barriers. What do we know about Roma Employment in Central and Eastern Europe?. Bratislava, 12 Feb. 2008. Jaroslav Kling Project Manager, UNDP RBEC Bratislava Regional Centre. As an introduction. Europe and CIS.

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Bratislava, 12 Feb. 2008

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  1. Europe and CIS Roma Employment – Challenges and Barriers What do we know about Roma Employment in Central and Eastern Europe? Bratislava, 12 Feb. 2008 Jaroslav Kling Project Manager, UNDP RBEC Bratislava Regional Centre

  2. As an introduction

  3. Europe and CIS From hard data (official) • We do not know much • Administrative data on employment/unemployment not collected • Official statistical surveys do not allow for Roma representativeness • Governments reluctant to collect • Political considerations • Constitutional constraints • Constituencies reluctant to share • Desire to avoid discrimination and stigmatization • Desire to keep distance from the state • Absence of ethnic data creates opportunities to misuse and misinterpret data deficits • Data might still be collected and used with negative effects (i.e. criminal justice)

  4. Europe and CIS All we know is coming from… • Narrative reports on employment of Roma – status, challenges, barriers, based on direct experiences • Qualitative and quantitative researches • Sociological Surveys • Mapping of the Roma situation • Household Budget/Labour Force type of surveys - status, challenges, barriers • Interviewing the employers – challenges, barriers • Modeling with the use of administrative data

  5. Europe and CIS …what do we know*? • Unemployment rates more than twice as high as similarly placed colleagues from majority communities in some countries • Low-skilled work predominates dominated by manual labor • Roma involvement in informal sector is on average four times more common than for majority *Based on UNDP survey of the socio-economic situation of Roma in the Decade of Roma Inclusion countries, results of which published in At Risk: Roma and the Displaced in Southeast Europe, UNDP 2006

  6. Europe and CIS Unemployment rates

  7. Europe and CIS Informal sector involvement

  8. Europe and CIS Roma employment - correlates • Gender: Employment rates of Roma women in some countries are as low as 20% (60% for majority women) • Age: differences between youth and adult unemployment rates are much smaller for Roma than for majority • Location: unemployment in urban areas is higher for both Roma women and men (opposite for majority); unemployment rates lower in mixed, well-integrated neighborhoods • Education: Returns on education lower for Roma than majority – and particularly lower for Roma women

  9. Europe and CIS Returns to education

  10. Europe and CIS …we also know that • The poor (over-represented among Roma) often have no access to formal financial institutions • Lack of collateral, lack of credit history and lack of skills are major barriers to bank credits At the same time • Microlending should not be seen as a ‘stand alone’ tool or as a starting point for Roma poverty alleviation. Such projects are most likely to be successful if applied in a concerted manner with training and traditional business support activities, including assistance in marketing and professional skills development

  11. Europe and CIS views from employers (good practices)* • Managerial leadership is keyin breaking the prejudices. Prejudice against Roma needs to be made socially unacceptable. • Diversity policy important but not sufficientunless it specifically addresses the Roma discrimination • Multisectoral cooperation, local partnershipswith local Roma NGOs help to find/train suitable Roma candidate … *Based on the UNDP survey of the employers in Central Europe published in Employing the Roma. Insights from Business, UNDP 2005

  12. Europe and CIS views from employers (good practices) … • Training and transportation packagesaddressing the mismatch between location and quality of the workforce and the need • Promote role models- while people may be told that discrimination is wrong, until they see for themselves that Roma can be educated, successful and assets in work teams, perceptions will be slow to change

  13. Europe and CIS …to conclude • Simply increasing Roma educational status is not enough to improve their employment prospects • The employment agencies should work as job brokers for vulnerable groups with appropriate knowledge about them and appropriate treatment • Private employers must be at the heart of any long-term strategy to reduce the unemployment of Roma …

  14. Europe and CIS …to conclude … • Microfinance is only effective if applied in combination with other approaches and policies • Learning by doing should be encouraged, for example via involving Roma in internship and traineeship programs • Positive externalities of employing Roma workers who would otherwise not have a job should be also reflected when assessing a project’s viability

  15. Europe and CIS More on our work on Roma social inclusion … to be found at: http://europeandcis.undp.org/go/vulnerability … or contact me at: jaroslav.kling@undp.org

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