Roma Inclusion: An Economic Opportunity for Bulgaria, the Czech Czech Republic, Romania, and Serbia

Marijana Jasarevic & Joost de LaatHuman Development EconomicsEurope and Central Asia Vice Presidency

What is the economic argument for Roma inclusion?

World Bank Study tries to answer this:Countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, SerbiaQuantitative analysis: 7 household surveysQualitative analysis: interviews with 222 stakeholders

Four Key Messages

* Roma inclusion is smart economics (a) current labor market integration of Roma is

poor (b) there are large economic benefits of equal

labor market opportunities for Roma(c) Benefits outweigh costs of educating Roma

* Roma want to contribute and have the potential to do so

* There is knowledge about what works for Roma integration

* Resources are available

Roma are much less likely to be working than non-Roma

Bulgaria Czech Republic Romania Serbia0

20

40

60

80

100

70

5663

51

41 40

50

36

Non-Roma Roma

Roma with jobs earn much less than non-Roma

Bulgaria Czech Republic Romania Serbia0

20

40

60

80

100100 100 100 100

69

4339

51

Non-Roma Roma

Roma earnings among those with a job relative to non-Roma with jobs

Young Roma are entering labor markets at much higher rates than aging majority populations

Equal labor market opportunities would generate billions of euros annually in extra output

Bulgaria (2007) Czech Republic* (2008)

Romania (2008) Serbia (2007)0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

526367

887

252

1,070

2,980

1,048

Lower population est. Higher population est.

Equal labor market opportunities would generate fiscal benefits of hundreds of millions of euros annually

Bulgaria (2007) Czech Republic* (2008)

Romania (2008) Serbia (2007)0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

128

260

202

62

260

675

257

Lower population est. Higher population est.

Fiscal benefits are many times larger than the public spending on education

• Assume it would cost 50% more per Roma child• Assume Roma currently complete primary and 10% completes secondary• Assume no Roma attends pre-primary or tertiary

• Fiscal benefits would be >3 times the needed resources to bridge education gap

Four Key Messages

• Roma inclusion is smart economics

• Roma want to contribute and have the potential to do so

• There is knowledge about what works for Roma integration

• Resources are available

Facts do not accord with common perceptions: Roma want to work but cannot find jobs

Male LFP Female LFP

Bulgaria Czech Republic

Romania Serbia0

20

40

60

80

100

79

6875

70

85

61

84

72

Majority group Roma

Bulgaria Czech Republic

Romania Serbia0

20

40

60

80

100

68

4958 55

59

28

37 40

Majority group Roma

Facts do not accord with common perceptions: vast majority of Roma do not depend on social assistance

Bulgaria Romania Serbia0

20

40

60

80

100

1612

25

Proportion of population (%)

Education facts accord with perceptions: the vast majority of Roma do not have a secondary education or higher

Bulgaria Czech Republic Romania Serbia0

20

40

60

80

100

8780

75 77

1320

12 13

Majority Group Roma

Is there a labor market return to secondary education?

Education and Employment Policies to Enhance Roma Inclusion

• Improve outcomes of working-age population through employment activation

• Improving school readiness

• Improving secondary completion

• Rigorously evaluating programs to learn which

specific ones are most effective to improve results and generate public support for proven programs

Resources are available

National resources and EU structural funds are available for Roma inclusion – and can be used for Roma inclusion! Necessary:

(a) Information exchange what works (b) Building capacity for multi-sector

approaches(c) Forming partnerships to use available

resources more! •

Policy Note Available:

www.worldbank.org/roma