ROMA PEOPLE - STORIES OF LIFE
strictly because of the social exclusion of the Roma. The occupational endogamy, however, has decreased – “Tradition says… they’re brick-makers from father to son, and singers. That’s it. That’s all we do.” (T.B., 22), “they used to learn from their parents” (T.C., 80). The average number of children per family is six or seven, with rare exceptions of smaller families. Over half the total population of the community is under age. The birth rates are high, and contraceptives are rejected due to the traditional model of large families. Generally, up to three generations of a family live in the same household, and the population growth is constant. Well, up to now it was like this: father, mother, six or even eight children, even more. Now, each child has a house… a family. The youths got married, at first they made one room, that’s the pattern… Now they usually build another one … (How many children does a typical family have?) Six, seven. (How old are they when they marry?) Up to eighteen, by eighteen they already have children … (What does the family do?) Tradition says… they’re brick-makers from father to son, and singers. That’s it. That’s all we do. [Wives] it’s good to choose them from the community. (Are there mixed couples?) No. But there are no barriers. (Are most marriages legal?) No, quite the opposite. They got married legally for that law that would make them get 200 Euro… This is my opinion. In the last four years many things have changed… Yes, they choose their spouse, but they have started realizing that it is good for their children to go to kindergarten and to school… it’s good to build a bigger house, pay for the utilities… (T.B., 22) Our respondents come from large families, which follow the pattern of the community. Most of them have five or six siblings, are living together with up to three generations of their extended families, and, with the exception of our youngest respondents, they have an average of four-five children each. Poverty and a lack of formal education have been passed on, together with all their effects, from one generation to the next. Children start work early, as temporary workers, earning their own living, as well as the living of their families. Most children also drop out of school after concluding the primary cycle, rarely graduating from junior high school, and start their own families soon after reaching puberty. It is the case of our first respondent, who had been recommended by another person in the community: Look at that lady, she’s a poor woman, without many children… Can he interview you, Ma’am?
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Soros Foundation Romania