Abstract
The article describes participation in paid work among Finnish Roma, based on data gathered by face-to-face interviews for the Finnish Roma Participation and Well-being Study (n = 234). We wanted to assess the relevance of some explanatory factors for the low paid work rate of the Roma, found in countries with a significant Roma minority, in the light of new material from Finland where the Roma minority is small and rather homogeneous. No earlier studies on their participation in paid work in Finland exist.The research shows the importance of education to finding paid employment, in compliance with earlier international results. Adherence to Roma culture, too, seems to cause problems to participation in paid employment. We were been able to assess discrimination at recruitment, obviously the key phase for successful or unsuccessful integration of the Roma in the Finnish labour market. Unlike in many countries, in Finland there was no significant difference in the paid employment rate of Roma men and women.
Highlights
The article describes participation in paid work among Finnish Roma, based on data gathered by face-to-face interviews for the Finnish Roma Participation and Wellbeing Study (n = 234))
41% of the respondents were 30–54 years old, and the highest paid employment rate was in this age bracket, where 44% of men and 56% of women were in paid work
The paid employment rate is highest in the same age bracket for all Finnish work force: among younger people, participation in education and training lowers the paid employment rate, while in the age bracket of 55+ years, various early retirement schemes, based on disability, have a similar impact
Summary
Similar results are found in country-specific surveys: for instance, in Croatia, 25% of Roma men and 58% of Roma women had never been in (paid) work (Kunac, Klasnić & Lalić 2018). Judging by this information, the EU Framework target cutting the employment gap between Roma and the rest of the population until 2020 has been very difficult to achieve. Besides ethnic discrimination and incoherent public support, Messing (2014a) has identified several other causes behind the low employment rates of the Roma minority We discuss the validity of the above general findings concerning Roma in the labour market in the light of recent Finnish data
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
