Professor Kahanec (Public Policy) publishes an article on Roma integration in European labor markets in IZA's World of Labor

Martin Kahanec, Associate Professor at the Department of Public Policy, publishes an article on "Roma integration in European labor markets" in IZA World of Labor.

The Roma are the largest ethnic minority in Europe—as well as one of the most disadvantaged. A triple vicious circle is at play: Substandard socio-economic outcomes reinforce each other; they fuel negative attitudes and perceptions, leading to ill-chosen policies; and segmentation is perpetuated through (statistical) discrimination. A severe lack of data precludes progress. However, existing bits of evidence point to virtuous ways out.

Kahanec's main message:

Labor market integration of the Roma is a moral and economic imperative. The pathology of social and economic separation and mistrust affects both Roma and non-Roma populations. Thus, policy intervention must target whole communities, and its scale and scope must be commensurate with the challenge: preventing the residential and social segregation that engenders multiple inequalities, addressing the intergenerational transmission of poverty and the human capital disadvantages of children and their parents, and ensuring equal treatment in the labor market. Political courage and will are wanted.

The paper is downloadable here: http://wol.iza.org/articles/roma-integration-in-European-labor-markets

Read an interview with Martin Kahanec on this topic here: http://newsroom.iza.org/en/2014/05/22/roma-integration-europe-needs-to-do-more/