ETHNICITY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION:ROMA IN BULGARIA

Ilona Tomova

Age and gender figure of Bulgarian Roma population in 2008 г.

Източник: EDIS S.A. European Survey on Health and the Roma Community

Age and gender figure of Bulgarian population in 2008 г.

Източник: НСИ

Bulgaria: Macroeconomic Data

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Macroeconomic indicators 1991 1995 1997 2000 2004 2007

Real GDP growth (index, 1989 = 100) 80.3 76.2 63.2 70.9 92.1 99.8

Annual Inflation rate (%) 333.5 62.0 1082.3 9.9 4.0 12.5

Employment growth (index 1989 = 100) 81.6 75.2 72.3 67.4 74.6 83.3

Annual registered unemployment rate (%) N.A. 11.4 14.0 18.1 12.2 6.9

Registered youth unemployment (age15–24) 47.8 24.5 21.8 35.1 24.4 14.5

General government expenditure (% of GDP)

45.6 41.3 33.5 44.5 39.7 38.8

Real wages (index, 1989 = 100) 68.0 60.2 40.1 54.6 59.4 61.3

Distribution of earnings: Gini coefficient N.A. 0.384 0.366 0.332 0.339 0.307

Source: EUROSTAT & self estimations

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Labour Force Participation, Employment and Unemployment

by Ethnicity

Source: NSI, 1992 and 2001 census

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Poverty by Ethnicity 1995 - 2003 (%)

Source: WB, 1995, 1997, 2001; NSI and MLSP, 2003.

Poverty Depth by Ethnicity (%)

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Source: WB, 1995, 1997, 2001; NSI and MLSP, 2003.

On terms

Room: Social exclusion can be referred to as a multidimensional unfavourable situation which lasts for long and includes dropping out of the main social spheres and labour market.

Social exclusion means the lack of opportunity for participation in the social structures and institutions; a failure (on individual, group or communal level) in one or more of the following four systems: the democratic and legal system which promote and sustain the civil integration; the labour market which creates the conditions for economic integration; the state system for social assistance which is directed towards the societal integration; the communal system which contributes to interpersonal integration. 7

Integration

Under the term “social integration” we understand the bilateral activity (on the part of the majority and of the minority/the vulnerable group) directed towards: braking up of the dominating ethnic, gender, generational, etc. model of domination; guaranteeing effective equality and the right to diversity without lowering of the social status and the value of the individual and/or the group; purposeful systemic efforts for reduction of the negative ethnic, religious, gender, ageist, health, etc. stereotypes and prejudices, for promotion of the positive representations for the minority or vulnerable groups, for sustainable positive change in intergroup relations; overcoming of the inequality concerning the opportunities for education, labour, residence, housing, health, participation in politics; achieving of higher level of equality of the results in the main social spheres: education, employment, professional realisation, income, housing, quality social services, participation in civil and political structures.

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Civil and political inclusionThe attitudes of the macro society towards Roma remain strongly negative. Hate speech is not punished and exists as an essential part of the political discourse, and a significant part of the media appearances and programmes. The Bulgaria’s political “elite” is clear about the social hostility against the rights and integration of the minorities and often demonstrates lack of political will for implementation of the programmes for Roma integration. Bulgaria has certain commitments for integration of the Roma, which are being under observation by the European Union. A series of legal documents are being developed in which willingness for counteraction of discrimination and descriptions of policies for integration of the Roma are formally declared. In reality, many programmes are enervated from unclear or incomplete formulations of the tasks, from the lack of action plan, from foreseen inadequate measures, insufficient funding, or lack of control.

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Civil and political inclusion

The inclusion of the Roma in the implementation of the projects and programmes for social inclusion on all stages of the realisation remains only a recommendation. The involvement of particular Roma non-governmental organisations at given stages of the projects often leads only to their disowning as representatives of the local Roma community.

The statute of the Roma deputy mayors and of the minority integration experts on regional and municipal levels is unclear and limited.

The amount of the state budget funds for implementation of the policies for integration of the minorities is insufficient. The Bulgarian government continues to count on mainly on external funds which often are not supported enough with budget money.

Labour Force Participation, Employment and Unemployment by

Ethnicity in 2004 and 2007

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Source: GGS, 2004 and 2007

Economic integration

The registered unemployment among Roma continued to fall in 2007-2008. The main factors were: Improvement of the macroeconomic indicators and in particular – increase of employment and reduction of unemployment as a whole for the country; An increase of the proportion of the households in which at least one of the adults has worked / works abroad; An increase of the number of people who found full-time jobs after they were included in social activities organised by the MLSP; An increase of the proportion of those who dropped out of the labour market at the expense of the registered unemployed after a requirement for suspension of social assistance was introduced for persons who had received social assistance for more than 18/12 months. Since 2009, unemployment among Roma raised.

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Education by ethnicity (persons age 20+)

Source: NSI, census 2001

Problems of Roma education Roma education deteriorated during Post-Socialism. (Functional) illiteracy

spread back to the youngest generation. This increases the risk to pass illiteracy (and unemployment, and poverty) to the next generations.

The education of Roma women is much lower than that of the men. This fact negatively affects children motivation to study and the possibilities of the family to assist and help the child in his/her studies.

Roma children enrollment in pre-school education is much less than the average of the country (in 2007, 54.3% of Roma children were enrolled in kindergartens, in comparison with 78.5% of ethnic Bulgarians’ children). Although after 2003 there is a possibility to prepare children for school in one year free of charge preschool education, it is still not enough to compensate the difficulties, stemming from the fact that for the vast majority of Roma children Bulgarian is not their mother tongue.

High drop-out rates and absenteeism continue to pose serious problems. Levels of enrolment among Romani children are much lower for basic, secondary and college levels of education.

The majority of the Roma children studies in rural or in segregated ghetto schools with bad infrastructure, lack of teaching materials and low quality of education.

Bulgarian teachers demonstrate strong prejudices against Roma children and have low expectations for their school success.

Multiculturalism and civic education are not enough developed. Despite of some improvements in teaching materials, stereotyped and prejudiced descriptions of Roma still exist in history and literature textbooks for different grades.

Spatial segregation and living conditions

Roma’s spatial segregation increased significantly after 1990 – around 78% of Roma live now in segregated neibourhoods.

Many Roma neighbourhoods degraded to ghettoes. Over-populated Roma neighbourhoods became a norm. One fifth of Roma live in less than 4 sq. m. per capita. The overpopulation raises the risk of spreading of viruses. It also is a cause for everyday distress – a preliminary condition for high morbidity.

According to the NSI, 40% of Roma lack drinking water supply in their homes. The majority of Roma neighbourhoods are without sewerage. All these factors increase the risk of hepatitis and stomach and enteric diseases.

Spatial segregation has an adverse effect on Roma’s ability to find jobs and on young people’s socialization.

15NCI, 2001

Roma health status

The morbidity in Roma community is very high. 28% of respondents suffered some type of indisposition, cold, virus or some other disease in the last two weeks before the interview took place (December 2008).

The majority of Roma aged 10 – 44 assess their health positively. The collapse occurs immediately after 45. Only 23% of Roma above that age assess their health positively.

Infectious diseases cause extremely serious problems in Roma neighbourhoods.

12% of the entire Roma population (including children) suffers some type of disability or a heavy chronic disease. One peculiarity of the group is the early invalidization and the mass chronification of the maladies already in the middle age.

The rate of accidents in the Roma community is very high. During the last 12 months before the interview 12.2% of all respondents have experienced some accidents. They doubled in the age group of older children (10 – 15 years) – the injured there reached 21.3%.

16Roma health, 2008

Diagnostic chronic diseases among Roma – comparative data (2008) (%)

Health insurance system

25.8% of adult Roma do not have health insurances. As a result – Roma rely more on emergency services, on doctors’ altruism, and on pharmacists’ consultations.

The unemployed people, who have lost their right to monthly social allowances, loose also their health insurance from the budget. According to the law from 2007, the long-term unemployed, who are healthy, have right to monthly social allowances only for 12 months.

People with irregular health insurances are considered not insured if they do not have payments for the last 12 months without interruption.

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Self-evaluation of households’ standard of life by ethnicity (%)

19EUREQUAL, 2008

State policies and health expenditures

The total expenditure per capita on health in Bulgaria is penurious – PPP 734$ (in Greece it is PPP 2955$). Bulgarians have more restricted access to quality health services. Private expenditures are 39.4% of total expenditure on health in Bulgaria, and 96.3% of them are paid out-of-pocket. Distribution of medical centres and doctors is uneven throughout the country. It is lower in the regions with high share of Turks and Roma. People in these regions have worse access to medical services, spend longer time in waiting for examination, and often have to travel to another place in order to visit a specialist. Unsolved normative and administrative problems leads to low ratio between nurses and doctors – 1.2 : 1 and deteriorates the quality of health services. Unsolved problems between National Health Fund and pharmacies lead to bankrupts for many of them. The retail of medicines in the grey sector increases.

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Households’ standard of life by ethnicity (%)

21EUREQUAL, 2008

Quality of life

Crime in the neighbourhoods is a big problem for ½ of the Roma, 1/6 of the Bulgarians and 1/10 of the Turk; The drunk and noisy people violate the quiet in the neighbourhoods of the 2/5 of the Roma, 1/7 of the Bulgarian and these are exclusively rare phenomenon among the Turks; Pollution, soot or other environmental problems are often encountered in the neighbourhoods of ¼ of the Bulgarians and the Roma, and of 1/10 of the Turks; Drug dealers and drug addicts in the neighbourhood are seen as a big problem by 12-13% of the Bulgarians and the Roma and for 5% of the Turks; “Bad neighbours” are a trouble for 1/3 of the Roma, 1/10 of the Bulgarians and only 2% of the Turks.

22EUREQUAL, 2008

Conclusion

Ethnic mobilization of minority groups after 1989 became a political means to redistribute power and to actively participate in the political Changes of Bulgarian society.

Long-term unemployment and impoverishment led to the revival of traditional economic strategies (emigration, intensification of labour in subsistence production, decrease in consumption) and an increase in patriarchal practices.

Roma became the group the most excluded from Bulgarian society. EU pressure over Bulgarian state plays the major role for it (slow) integration into Bulgarian society. Labour emigration became the major strategy to escape poverty.

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Demographic data (2001 census)

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Оценка за броя на ромското население на базата на различни коефициенти

на естествен прираст в България

Източник: Данни на НСИ, изчисления на А. Пампоров и И. Томова