Life in Slovakia’s Roma Settlements

R ecent interviews in Slovakia’s segregated Roma settlements reveal a miserable, often hopeless existence for the majority of their population. Unemployment and the lack of even basic education are major hurdles to integrating Roma into society at large.

More Roma in Slovakia (about 120,000 people or a quarter of the country’s Roma population) live in settlements on the outskirts of villages and towns than in other countries of the region. Many of these settlements are rooted in exclusionary policies adopted during World War II and the early socialist period, which curbed the rights of Slovak Roma in many ways, including housing. Regulations allowed Roma to enter towns and villages only on certain days and at specific times and ordered them to move their homes a minimum distance of two kilometers from all public roads. This policy formed the basis for the establishment of many Roma settlements that still exist in Slovakia.

According to the 2001 census, Roma represent 9.7 percent of the population, making them the second largest minority in the country after Hungarians. The share of Roma in the population is likely to rise in coming years because of their higher birth rates. Demographic projections published in the Economist indicate that Roma could become a majority by 2060.

The most salient difference between the present time and the communist period for older Roma was that they all had jobs. Roma associate the previous regime with an abundance of job opportunities and benefits, including subsidized consumer goods, utilities, and animals for breeding. Roma also recall having more housing options and better relationships with non-Roma.

Under socialism, many Roma held formal public sector jobs, most commonly in agricultural cooperatives, factories, public construction, and mines. Many of these enterprises have closed or have been substantially restructured over the last decade. Roma were more immediately affected by enterprise downsizing at the outset of transition than other groups. According to official data, in 1996 the Roma share of Slovakia’s total unemployed reached 17 to 18 percent, and as much as 40 to 42 percent in the eastern districts with large Roma populations. These ratios have not changed much. Most unemployed Roma have been out of work for more than a year. Unemployment among young people, and especially women, is high. Most young Roma interviewed from the settlements had never been formally employed. Young women generally do not enter the labor force because of early pregnancies. Many get married and begin having children soon after completing primary school. Nearly all the girls over 18 were already married with children or pregnant.

Many Roma cited ethnic discrimination as a significant barrier to employment and as a rationale for not seeking work outside their communities and villages. A number of Roma related anecdotes about friends or relatives who had applied for a job, and even though they were accepted over the phone, were subsequently rejected as soon as the employer realized that they were Roma. Roma also explained that they were denied employment because of low education levels. A young Roma in Rimavská Sobota expressed a common sentiment: "No one will employ a Gypsy anyway, why try?" Many Roma work in the informal sector. Common activities include salvaging and selling scrap metal, petty trade, and part-time work in agriculture and construction. A number of Roma admitted to resorting to theft as a coping strategy, including stealing potatoes, firewood, and construction materials.

Reintegrating unemployed Roma workers into the labor force may be made more difficult by the distorted incentives arising from the design of the social safety net. Social assistance in Slovakia lacks mechanisms for benefits to taper off gradually as workers become employed, thereby building pro-work incentives. Consequently, the system penalizes those who find employment and sets up a dependency trap.

Roma lack opportunities to borrow money, and therefore have limited capacity to establish small businesses. In many cases Roma lack collateral to borrow because of unclear property ownership. Access to loans from commercial institutions is virtually zero. Some Roma do borrow small sums from neighbors, friends, and relatives, as well as through local Roma usurers. In some communities the Roma leader, or vajda, lends money, but interest rates were reportedly extortionate—40 percent or higher—compared with an interest rate for consumer credit of around 14 percent.

Most Roma adults interviewed in the settlements had some primary education, but almost none of them had completed secondary school. The majority of Roma who had continued on to secondary school were enrolled in apprentice schools or secondary vocational schools.

Teachers and school directors in the study districts reported that the attendance of Roma children has been declining since 1989. Particularly in the poorest settlements, many children were observed playing in the streets during the school day. In Rimavská Sobota, teachers reported absent students to the police and their families’, welfare benefits were cut to motivate attendance. As a result, many parents understood education more as an obligation to the state than to their children.

Few Roma children from segregated settlements between three and six years of age attend preschool. "Kindergarten is not free of charge." Because Roma children begin primary school unprepared, they face additional difficulties in adapting to the school environment. These circumstances exacerbate preconceptions of non-Roma students and teachers that Roma are not capable of learning, and leads to further exclusion.

Roma from isolated and segregated settlements may be introduced to the Slovak language only once they enter primary school. They do not understand their teachers. The teachers do not speak the Roma language, so they communicate by using gestures. In many cases Roma are placed in separate classes or special schools because of their lack of preparation. In many settlements teachers were poorly prepared to work with Roma children. Nevertheless, many teachers interviewed expressed an interest in training and teaching materials in Roma culture and history, as few of them had any knowledge of Roma issues.

Special schools are a legacy from the socialist era, and were designed to provide special education for children with mental and physical disabilities. A disproportionate share of Roma are enrolled in such special schools. Here the curriculum is less rigorous and teachers’ expectations are lower than in mainstream schools, but opportunities for graduates of special schools are limited. Even when Roma children are educated within the mainstream Slovak school system, they may be placed in separate Roma classes. Some Slovak teachers argue that Roma should attend special schools and classes because they need special care and assistance that cannot be provided in a regular classroom. Others take an opposite view. Some Roma parents interviewed believed that their children receive more attention at special schools and are not singled out. Most Roma parents expressed a preference for mixed classes, so that their children would be exposed to the Slovak language.

Addressing exclusion and the negative impacts of segregation also involves overcoming divisions between Roma and non-Roma communities. Education is an important vehicle for overcoming cultural barriers by including the history and culture of Roma and other minorities in the curriculum. Training teachers, local government officials, and other personnel working in social services can be important mechanisms for addressing discrimination within public services. Public information campaigns can raise awareness about discrimination.

This article is adapted from chapter 3 of the volume Roma in an Expanding Europe: Breaking the Poverty Cycle, which itself is based on a joint study by the World Bank; Foundation Social Policy Analysis Center, the Institute for Economic andd Social Reorms, and the Open Society Institute, entitled Poverty and Welfare of Roma in the Slovak Republic, 2002. The work was led by Iveta Radicova, Helen Shahriari, and Dena Ringold.