Roma Inclusion: An Economic Opportunity for Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania and Serbia Human Development Economics Europe 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, Serbia Quantitative analysis: 7 household surveys Qualitative analysis: interviews with 222 stakeholders

Four Key Messages *Roma inclusion is smart economics (a) current labor market integration of Roma is poor (a) current labor market integration of Roma is poor (b) there are large economic benefits of equal labor market opportunities for Roma (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

Roma with jobs earn much less than non-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

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

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

Education Gap between Roma and Majority non- Roma in Romania

Four Key Messages Roma inclusion is smart economics Roma inclusion is smart economics Roma want to contribute and have the potential to do so Roma want to contribute and have the potential to do so There is knowledge about what works for Roma integration There is knowledge about what works for Roma integration Resources are available Resources are available

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

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

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

Is there a labor market return to secondary education?

Many policies can help labor market integration Roma labor market inclusion policies - (a) Education and Employment are currently primary focus of World Bank - Labor activation Labor activation School attendance & completion School attendance & completion School readinessSchool readiness (b) Health and productivity; housing and health; housing and mobility also deserve attention

Education and Employment Policies to Enhance Roma Inclusion Improve outcomes of working-age population through employment activation Improve outcomes of working-age population through employment activation Improving school readiness Improving school readiness Improving secondary completion Improving secondary completion Rigorously evaluating programs to learn which specific ones are most effective to improve results and generate public support for proven programs 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 (a) Information exchange what works (b) Building capacity for multi-sector approaches (b) Building capacity for multi-sector approaches (c)Forming partnerships to use available resources more!

Four Key Messages Roma inclusion is smart economics Roma inclusion is smart economics Roma want to contribute and have the potential to do so Roma want to contribute and have the potential to do so There is knowledge about what works for Roma integration There is knowledge about what works for Roma integration Resources are available Resources are available