Blog by Stelina Dungaj and Amana Ferro, European Roma Grassroots Organisations (ERGO) Network
The first years of a child’s life are the most important in their personal development, yet Roma children have been left behind for centuries in what concerns a good start. The Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) found that every third Roma child (30%) lived in a household where someone had gone to bed hungry at least once in the previous month, and only about half (53%) of young Roma children were enrolled in early childhood education and care programmes.
Poverty has a considerable impact on children’s physical, mental, and emotional development, increasing their chances of lagging behind in all the aspects of their adult life. Importantly, the issues of Roma children cannot be addressed in isolation, as their early education, socialisation, and overall wellbeing are deeply intertwined with the struggles and opportunities their parents encounter.
There are no poor children in rich families, so fighting child poverty must begin with fighting family poverty, including through ensuring adequate incomes from work or social protection. Material deprivation prevents Roma children from accessing education and enjoying good health, thus limiting access to opportunities, and substandard housing and spatial segregation act as additional obstacles.
Many poor Roma families can’t cope with the hidden, associated costs of early education and care, such as clothing, nappies, transport, hygiene etc. Adequate support is needed to overcome financial and non-financial barriers for Roma children and their parents, as the lack of educational engagement can be traced to pressing, unmet needs that prevent both children and parents from reaping the long-term benefits of education.
Additionally, many Roma neighbourhoods are segregated or isolated, with no early childhood education and care facilities, or indeed other health and social services, nearby. Quality and affordable housing is an urgent priority for Roma communities, as disastrous living conditions have a tremendously damaging impact on the health and wellbeing of all occupants of a Roma household, including children.
Poverty and inadequate housing also lead to significant health inequalities experienced by Roma children, as they are more likely to suffer from poor health and to be overrepresented among children with disabilities or chronic conditions. Expanding coverage of health insurance and access to healthcare, and investing in Roma health mediators, working directly in and with communities, is a key pre-requisite in ensuring that Roma children are healthy and thriving.
Roma parents and their children are often turned away from services, including early childhood education and care and other support, due to institutional antigypsyism. Employing Roma staff and dedicated school mediators goes a long way in bridging gaps with communities, as well as dispensing anti-bias training to non-Roma staff to provide quality, inclusive education, including diversity games and awareness about Roma language, culture, and history.
Economic hardship and antigypsyism on the labour market have forced many Roma parents from Central and Eastern Europe to become seasonal workers in the West, with poorly regulated contracts and limited access to rights and benefits, including child support and services. Many of their children are left behind to be raised by grandparents, overrepresented among children in poverty, street children and children in institutionalised care, making them twice as vulnerable to trafficking, violence, and abuse.
Roma children are full citizens of the countries they live in, yet their rights are not respected, and they have little or no recourse to justice. In order to ensure that they develop and thrive while enjoying the same opportunities as their non-Roma peers, it is fundamental to tackle antigypsyism and intersectional discrimination. Preventive and proactive measures are needed to alter public perceptions, prevalent misrepresentations, and misinformation about Roma, and to develop positive counter-narratives of diversity and cohesion.
Governments must equally invest in quality, affordable, or even free community-based early childhood education and care and other social and support services that Roma parents can access, including through local, bottom-up social economy initiatives. In order to ensure that Roma children are not overlooked by mainstream statistics, disaggregated data by ethnic background and specific Roma indicators are needed, collected and utilised in a sensitive way.
Last but not least, policies and initiatives aimed at children’s rights and wellbeing will only be effective if they achieve wide ownership by beneficiaries and if they are underpinned by a comprehensive and meaningful partnership. Tailored outreach measures need to be put in place to ensure the participation of Roma children and that of their parents, including through the civil society organisations representing them.
For more information on ERGO Network’s work on Roma children, see their website or email them.
