At risk: Roma and the displaced in Southeast Europe by United Nations Development Programme

At Risk: Roma and the Displaced in Southeast Europe

tion status, before examining the independent causal impact of each factor on poverty.

FIGURE 1 – 14 ��

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Table 1-5: Literacy rates for Roma and majority respondents (Responses to the question “Does the household member read and write?” for household members six years of age or above) Roma

Majority

Yes

73.2%

96.4%

26.8%

3.6%

Correlates of education In addition to outlining the implications of Roma education status, key causal factors contributing to lower educational attainment should be identified, for policy and programming purposes. The first step is the identification of key factors correlated with this educa-

Box 7:

National MDG targets, vulnerable groups and Roma literacy

Literacy is a major area of concern for Roma and other vulnerable groups. Improvements in literacy rates are included in almost all of the national MDG reports from Southeast Europe, within Goal 2. The MDG report for Macedonia calls for full literacy by 2015. At the national level, this means only a small improvement (0.28 percentage points annually), as the literacy rate was 96.4 per cent in 2002. However, Roma households in Macedonia would reach the national target only in 2062. Growth in literacy rates would have to be ﬁve times higher if 100 per cent Roma literacy were to be attained by 2015. Montenegro’s National MDG report called for the achievement of virtually complete literacy (99 per cent) by 2015, from 96.3 per cent in 2005. At the national level, this means only small annual improvements (0.37 percentage points). At this pace, Roma households surveyed would not reach 99 per cent literacy until 2115. Growth in Roma literacy rates would need to be 10 times higher if the target is to be achieved for Roma by 2015.

Gender The survey reveals that women – and Roma women in particular – have weaker education backgrounds than men. As shown in Figure 1-15 there are substantial differences between attainment rates for men and women for both groups and at all levels of education. Moreover the gap between men and women in terms of educational attainment expands across each level of education. The size of the pro-male attainment gap37 shows that Roma women are relatively more disadvantaged than women from majority households. These data also show that the expanding `gender gap´ in educational attainment rates expands more rapidly for Roma women, and point to the need for specific measures targeting this sub-group. At least part of the gap in attainment between Roma men and women can be understood in terms of lower enrolments among the latter. This is particularly the case at the primary level where enrolments among Roma girls between 7 and 15 years is just 52 per cent – compared to 61-per cent enrolments among men. The gap in enrolment in education among Roma boys and girls can be attributed to traditional factors, such as early marriages, inadequate appreciation of the importance of female education, household demands (housework, childrearing, etc.). Box 8 outlines how the traditional model of socialization of Roma girls may indirectly influence educational opportunities. In addition to a lack of educational opportunities, Roma girls also suffer from lower completion rates. The gap between male and female enrolments at each level of education is substantially lower than the gap between male and female attainments. One explanation for this difference may be that girls in Roma households have to devote more time to household work or childcare, compared to boys in these same households. Indeed, among the elementary-, primary-, and secondary-school-age survey respondents (5-19 years) who were not currently enrolled in school or studying and who reported their working status, 63 per cent of Roma women (as opposed to 8 per cent of Roma men) reported housework to be their primary work.

The pro-male attainment gap is the diﬀerence between male and female attainment rates divided by the attainment rate of men and multiplied by 100.