Roma Survey 2021

Challenge

The Roma population is the largest ethnic minority in Europe and has long faced exclusion, deprivation, discrimination, and racism. The EU institutions are committed to ensuring that Roma are treated equally, and their fundamental rights are respected. This study provides unique, comparable data to measure the impact of EU and national anti-discrimination, anti-racism, and equality legislation policies, and to monitor changes in the situation of the Roma population.

The aim of the study is to help shape policies that support the Roma community. It seeks to understand how the Roma population is living in the EU and includes questions related to:

Current living situation and quality of life

• Health
• Access to jobs
• Rights awareness
• Trust in institutions
• Experiences of discrimination in various areas of life (employment, education, housing, health, and other services)
• Criminal victimization (including hate crime)
• Experiences with corruption
• Experiences with the police

The EU’s Roma strategic framework has set clear targets for Roma inclusion and equality that Member States must achieve by 2030. The results of the study provide invaluable data to monitor progress on these targets and evaluate the actual impact of anti-discrimination and anti-racism policies towards the Roma population.

The main challenge was to design and conduct a survey with results that are representative of the Roma population in each country. The primary challenges included:

• Identifying the Roma population in 10 EU countries
• Designing and implementing a random probability-based survey among the Roma population
• Interviewing the Roma population, building trust, and addressing sensitive topics

Additionally, the survey was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented further challenges such as lockdown measures, fear of infection, difficulty to access certain neighbourhoods or camps, and increased reluctance to participate. Despite these obstacles, Verian successfully collected data across all countries, achieving the agreed sample sizes and adhering to the established methodology.

Approach

Our team of researchers, specialised in high-quality cross-national surveys, successfully delivered the results of the Roma survey, highlighting our unique expertise in:

• Identifying and surveying hard-to-reach groups
• Adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic situation by designing and applying specific protocols to conduct the interviews in that context.
• Designing survey instruments according to the human rights-based approach to data
• Designing and managing cross-national random probability-based surveys
• Implementing cross-national face-to-face surveys
• Designing training methodologies and protocols for surveying hard-to-reach groups
• Collaborating with associations to support interviewer training and facilitate contact with the Roma population during fieldwork

The survey covered Roma individuals aged 16 or older living in Croatia, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, and Spain. Information was collected on over 20,000 household members from nearly 8,500 Roma respondents. The survey was conducted using random probability-based face-to-face methodologies in all countries. We partnered with Roma associations in each country to support the design of the survey instruments (screener, questionnaire, and fieldwork materials) and to facilitate the conduct of the fieldwork, including specific interviewer training and pairing interviewers with a Roma association member. Close cooperation with Roma associations throughout the project was critical for building trust with the Roma population and ensuring the project's success.

Throughout the implementation of the project, we rigorously applied the human rights-based approach to data collection. The core principle of this approach is "Doing no harm," which means that no data collection activity should create or reinforce existing discrimination, bias, or stereotypes. The main principles are:

• Participation
• Disaggregation
• Self-identification
• Transparency
• Privacy
• Accountability

This study produced unique statistics on the current living situation of the Roma population in Europe, providing evidence for policymakers to act and improve the living conditions of the Roma community.

Impact

The Roma survey 2021 is part of a series of surveys conducted among the Roma population by the FRA since 2016. Despite some progress, such as improvements in housing conditions, the Roma population continues to experience discrimination and live in severe poverty. In some areas, the situation has even worsened since 2016.

These results are crucial for measuring progress towards the objectives set in the EU’s Roma strategic framework for 2030. They provide evidence to national governments that more needs to be done to reduce discrimination against the Roma population. Better access to education and improved job opportunities are essential to enhancing the living conditions of the Roma community.