Eighty per cent of European Roma live at risk of poverty, with member states far from reaching the Roma equality targets set for 2030, according to a survey by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) published on Tuesday (25 October).
“The situation hasn’t changed almost at all in comparison to 2016 and we still have four out of five Roma living at risk of poverty,” Jaroslav Kling, research officer at FRA, told EURACTIV.
The survey, carried out in 10 European countries with 8,500 Roma respondents, shows that while fewer Roma live in households experiencing severe material deprivation, the risk of poverty rate has not changed in the past few years and overall progress has been “too little and too slow”.
Overall progress on Roma equality has been “too little and too slow,” the study finds. It was conducted in Croatia, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Spain, as well as North Macedonia and Serbia.
“These findings underline how EU and national laws and policies still do not deliver on the fundamental rights of Roma that will change their daily lives,” FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty said in a statement, calling on national governments to step up their efforts.
The Agency warned that many EU countries risk falling short of reaching the 2030 milestones set under the EU’s plan for Roma inclusion, including the target of cutting the poverty gap between Roma and the general population by at least half.
Meanwhile, the current energy crisis and the soaring inflation could further deteriorate the economic situation of Roma people who are already struggling to pay the bills.
“Any kind of changes or increases in the energy prices would affect primarily Roma, because of their lower income status,” Kling explained.
To reduce the poverty gap, Kling stressed the need for measures to support education and employment, which “contribute to Roma’s capacity to earn money.”
“We cannot expect that the targets that the EU has set for 2030 will be achieved at all in the area of poverty reduction, without major improvements in the area of education and employment,” Kling said.
Yet, the report shows no progress in education since 2016, with over 70% of Roma leaving school early, a large share of children still attending segregated schools, and only 27% completing upper secondary education.
When it comes to employment, Hungary and Italy have already achieved the 2030 targets of 60% of Roma in jobs. However, overall employment rates remain low, particularly among young Roma and women, and only 43% of Roma in the surveyed countries reported being in paid work.
Moreover, 33% of respondents reported feeling discriminated against when looking for a job, a share which has doubled compared to 2016, also due to anti-gypsyism attitudes fuelled by the pandemic.
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
Source: euractiv.com
