Why Europe needs Roma to boost its economy

Is the aging of the European population a time bomb? With its low birth rate and an aging workforce, the continent faces a demographic crisis that could affect its economic competitiveness and public finances.

The number of people of working age (aged 20-64) peaked in Europe in 2010. By 2035, there will be around 50 million fewer people of working age in Europe than in 2010. Demographically, this makes Europe in the oldest continent in the world. planet.

With a shrinking workforce and an aging population increasingly retiring and drawing on their pensions, European politicians will soon face the unenviable task of maintaining economic growth while extending the hand of European work. And in many cases, they will do so in a context of hostile public opinion about the use of migration as a means to balance demographic and economic decline.

To overcome this challenge, the European Union has just announced 2023 as the European Year of Skills (EYS) to provide fresh impetus to achieve the EU 2030 social targets of at least 60 per cent of adults in training every year and at least 78 percent in employment. But can the EU really achieve this without harnessing the potential of the continent’s largest minority group?

There are around 6 million Roma in the 27 EU countries and millions more in the EU candidate countries as a whole. Contrary to the region’s aging population, the Roma demographic potential is immense and, in many cases, poised to plug the holes ahead.

For example, the percentage of Roma under the age of 30 in North Macedonia is almost double that of the majority population. In Romania, 59.9% of Roma are under 30 years of age, and for the majority of the population, this rate is only 32.8%.

European politicians must capitalize on the potential of these often highly adaptable, multilingual and entrepreneurial citizens as part of their EYS objectives. This would offer multiple benefits to society and would offer an economic lifeline to a minority within Europe that lives below the poverty line. It would also avoid the need for more migrant labor from other parts of the world.

According to a long-term study by the World Bank published in 2019, the exclusion of Roma communities increases the costs of the national treasury. Roma inclusion is not just a moral imperative; Europe’s aging population means it is also a smart economy. The benefits of Roma inclusion are not negligible and include productivity gains associated with higher employment rates and labor earnings, and include fiscal benefits through higher tax revenues and lower welfare spending.

The study also illustrated that “among Roma who completed secondary education, the average income is much higher than the average income among Roma who completed primary education: 83 percent more in Bulgaria, 110 percent more in the Czech Republic , 144 percent higher in Romania and 52 percent higher in Serbia.”

To unlock the employment potential of this group, EU leaders will need to overcome a series of internal challenges.

First, they will need to address biases and prevent political parties from using populist and anti-Roma rhetoric during election campaigns. After all, democracy is about equal rights. But for many of the six million Roma in the EU, these rights are not fully guaranteed. Roma in Europe still face insults and slander on the streets, in the media and in political discourse.

Second, member states will need to invest in Roma education and employment, which would help reduce unemployment and poverty within communities and provide much-needed skills and talent in the local labor market. and national.

Third, we need a bottom-up approach to funding the programs. One of the reasons for the lack of success of some EU funding programs is the application of a top-down approach that does not take into account the realities and voices of the Roma at the grassroots level and entails a high administrative burden. . Genuine and systemic consultation and inclusion of Roma representatives is still lacking when integration measures are planned, implemented and monitored. Participation is limited to formal public consultations at the last stage. Many of the shortcomings identified by the Court of Auditors in its 2016 special audit report are still relevant.

Furthermore, policy makers need to support training initiatives, so that the Roma are not left with low-paying jobs that are vulnerable to exploitation.

The Roma Education Fund (REF) has helped more than 6,000 people find jobs in a variety of sectors, from construction and carpentry to nursing, hairdressing, coding and working in a tax office. REF made this happen by providing them with qualifications and skills in professions to fill the gap in the job market. Soft skills like writing CVs, helping with job interview preparation, navigating the job application process, and improving digital literacy made a huge difference. What the success of this five-year program shows is that, with the right support, Roma can overcome social and economic barriers to access education and work. Without support, survival becomes your goal and not necessarily development.

Last month, while addressing Rome Week 2023, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Roma in the EU still struggle when looking for jobs and housing. She is correct. This must change. According to a 2022 report by the Fundamental Rights Agency, Roma poverty levels have not changed since 2016. Four out of five Roma are at risk of poverty. Only two in five Roma between the ages of 20 and 64 have a paid job, including part-time, ad hoc, freelance or odd jobs. Employment is much rarer for young Roma and women. While there are some improvements in housing compared to 2016, half of Europe’s Roma still live in a state of housing deprivation: in damp, dark housing or housing without adequate sanitary facilities. One in five Roma households does not have access to running water inside their home.

That is why the European Year of Skills initiative, which was launched on 9 May, Europe Day, offers a great opportunity for national governments to include measures for Roma education and training programmes, for example by expanding pre-school coverage for Roma children, providing scholarships and mentoring support, offering remedial programs or back-to-school initiatives (as 70 per cent of Roma youth leave school early), and including history and Roma literature in the curricula. All this It will help encourage employers to hire Roma people to build a fair and inclusive society and reduce the exclusion of Roma from the labor market.

Europe needs to tackle the looming demographic time bomb and also maintain its position as a global voice for the values ​​of democracy. The inclusion of Roma communities will help the EU to boost its economy and be a defender of human rights.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.