Praxis published the report Analysis of the Main Problems and Obstacles in Access of Roma to the Rights to Work and Employment, prepared within the project “Contribution to Social Inclusion and Combat against Discrimination of Marginalized Population in Serbia”.

One of the biggest and most difficult problems that the Republic of Serbia should address is unemployment. The Roma population is among the most vulnerable groups in terms of employment opportunities. All available data show that the unemployment rate among Roma is much higher than in the general population, which inevitably results in widespread poverty of this population group. On the other hand, even if Roma manage to get employment, they often perform the lowest-paid jobs, in the most adverse conditions and exposed to health risks. The vast majority of Roma who have income are not employed, either under a fixed-term or permanent contract. They usually secure their livelihood by collecting recyclable waste materials. The situation of Roma in the labour market is only one of the indicators of their fundamental inequality in society and one of the many consequences of hindered access to basic human rights faced by this group of population. Some of the factors that hinder the Roma’s inclusion in the labour market are lack of education and lack of professional qualifications, ingrained prejudice against working habits of Roma and discrimination against Roma by potential employers, black-market employment above average, difficulties in obtaining required documents, and often also the lack of information about how to obtain a work booklet or to be registered with the NES.

The obstacles which hinder the exercise of the right to Roma are more thoroughly described in the report. Besides pointing at the basic problems in this area and at steps that should be taken in order to improve the position of the Roma in the labour market, the report also includes the results of the research conducted by Praxis on the period from February to August 2012with the aim to get a better insight in the position of Roma in the labour market, in particular the part of the Roma population that usually remains invisible to available statistics - the Roma living in informal settlements and the Roma who face difficulties in obtaining personal documents.

Download the report: Analysis of the Main Problems and Obstacles in Access of Roma to the Rights to Work and Employment