98% of Roma in Spain, Italy live in poverty: Study

OVIEDO, Spain

A study published by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) on Tuesday suggests that 98% of Roma in Spain and Italy were living at risk of poverty in 2021.

Across 10 European countries, 80% of the community was at risk for poverty, compared to the EU average of 17%.

Roma across Europe continue to face “shocking levels of deprivation, marginalization and discrimination,” said FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty.

“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 … and should inspire national policymakers to gather their own data to focus resources and efforts on addressing the intolerable plight too many Roma continue to face,” O’Flaherty added.

The 77-page study contains troves of statistics on social issues affecting the community, including inadequate housing, discrimination, work and education.

For instance, one of every four Roma surveyed said they felt discriminated against based on their ethnic background over the last 12 months. In Portugal, that figure was highest, with 62% saying they experienced discrimination.

Some factors have improved like the amount of harassment, with 17% of respondents saying they had been harassed in the past year for being Roma, down from 30% in 2016. However, more than one-third of respondents still reported harassment in the Czech Republic, Greece and Italy.

In Italy, 10% said they had been physically attacked, compared to 1% across the EU.

Education, on the other hand, has remained relatively stagnant. Just 44% of Roma children attended early childhood education in 2021, compared to 93% of the children in the general population.

More than half of Roma children are affected by segregation in education, a situation particularly pronounced in Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania, according to the study.

There is a similar gap in employment, with 43% of respondents saying they are in paid work, compared to 72% of the EU average.

These social gaps also have an impact on lifespan. The average Roma lives 11 years less than the general population in the countries of study.

The survey collected information from nearly 8,500 interviews and aims to track progress on the European Commission’s 10-year plan to support Roma through to 2030.

So far, figures suggest the EU is already falling short on key targets and the community’s situation has improved little over the past five years.

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