Enhancing the Employment Chances of Roma
Roma communities in central and southeastern Europe have a history of being excluded from the labor market and still face severe barriers to employment. Besides being marginalized socially, Roma were typically the first to lose their jobs at the ou...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2009/03/11672165/enhancing-employment-chances-roma http://hdl.handle.net/10986/10259 |
| Summary: | Roma communities in central and
southeastern Europe have a history of being excluded from
the labor market and still face severe barriers to
employment. Besides being marginalized socially, Roma were
typically the first to lose their jobs at the outset of the
post-communist transition. Many in their next generation
grew up in unemployed households, with low educational
attainments and limited job skills. The labor market
exclusion of Roma persisted even through the years of
buoyant economic growth and increasing employment levels
prior to the economic slowdown triggered by the global
financial crisis in 2008. Many governments in central and
southeastern Europe are trying to address the unemployment
problem of Roma and other disadvantaged groups by
introducing measures to restrict or cut welfare benefit
entitlements, so as to strengthen incentives to work.
However, research by the World Bank and others shows that
simply cutting benefits is unlikely to result in higher
employment the labor market exclusion and social
marginalization of Roma is a multifaceted issue, and their
communities face multidimensional barriers to employment. A
more effective way to promote employment among Roma (and
other disadvantaged groups) is the employment activation
approach increasingly being introduced across many countries
in the European Union and the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD). This approach balances
the mutual obligations of jobseekers and state employment
offices in order to secure the successful integration of the
most disadvantaged workers. |
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