Breaking the Cycle of Roma Exclusion in the Western Balkans
... Much of the Council of Europe work has involved all seven countries in the focus of this article, but to varying degrees; the former Yugoslav countries have received arguably more focus than Albania, Moldova and Ukraine, particularly on a comparative level. An example of this is the recent World Bank report on 'Breaking the Cycle of Roma Exclusion in the Western Balkans', which focuses on 'labour markets' as one of its core thematic areas, and states that low labour force participation and high unemployment are an issue across the Western Balkans and are a particular problem for Roma women (Robayo-Abril & Millán, 2019). Moreover, they provide some statistics which show that employment rates for Roma are much lower than for non-Roma populations and the EU-28 average. ...
This article focuses on income loss and its knock-on effects experienced by Roma communities in seven non-EU states during the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown measures in the first half of 2020. Roma communities in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine were all facing socio-economic exclusion and marginalisation before the COVID-19 pandemic, thus international organisations were warning very early on that Roma communities were at serious risk during lockdowns, including in the fields of employment or loss of income. This article uses primary data collected across the seven states from a survey of 440 Roma individuals and 53 in-depth interviews with Roma stakeholders, in order to add empirical evidence to an under-researched area. The main findings include that almost 73% of those surveyed experienced a reduced income, and the major reason for this was due to access to or demand for informal work which was hindered by the lockdowns. The knock-on effects of this included 32% of those surveyed declaring an inability to afford food and everyday essentials or to pay bills. Most Roma who needed to borrow money did so through private means (family and friends) rather than through official or state institutions. Finally, there was some geographic variance between the seven countries, with Roma communities in Albania and Ukraine faring worst.
... Legal routes of emigration from Albania and Kosovo into the EU are very limited; therefore, migration has mostly taken place through irregular means (Robayo-Abril & Millán, 2019). In the most recent phase of Albanian migration, during the 2010s, when the asylum route to Germany and the EU opened up, the Roma have been over-represented. ...
Using the innovative concept of cognitive remittances, this paper looks at the transformation of the self-perception and positionality of Roma returned asylum-seekers. The empirical evidence, in the form of interview narratives and focus group quotes, is drawn from two research projects based in Albania and Kosovo and the wider Western Balkan region. The findings show that the migration and asylum-seeking experience, in Germany and other EU countries, provide the Roma with a new lens through which they can view and appreciate their historical and contemporary belongingness in the Western Balkan countries. Having been exposed to different lifestyles and values, they face real challenges upon return, where they have to confront anew very low living standards, socio-economic marginalisation and unfavourable positioning in the social hierarchy. We label this the reintegration ‘hump’. A cognitive shift occurs and their self-perception changes, including a greater sensitivity to experiences of discrimination. Reintegration is both hampered and potentially enabled by their enhanced political literacy and agency.
... Concerning other structural determinants of health, educational level, which is considered to be one of the most important determinants [57], was identified as a significant determinant in the Pappa et al. study [38], but this was not the case in our study. However, based on other findings [58], higher educational attainment is associated with better self-perceived health. Therefore, this "paradox" of our study could be attributed to the fact that only 9% of our participants had attained a secondary class and this is probably why such a difference could not be identified. ...
We aimed to assess the self-perceived health status and the presence of chronic diseases of adult Roma living in settlements in Greece, and to explore associated social determinants of health. Data were derived from the Hprolipsis Health Survey. Multivariable regression models were applied. In total, 534 adults, 287 women, and 247 men were recruited from twelve Roma settlements in four prefectures. Although 62% of the participants perceived their health status as good/very good, about half of them had been diagnosed with at least one chronic disease. Several structural and intermediary social determinants of health were found to be significantly associated with the health outcomes; prefecture, settlement type, sex, age group, living with a partner, presence of depression symptoms, food insecurity, and alcohol consumption were associated with self-perceived health status; settlement type, sex, age group, presence of anxiety symptoms, food insecurity and number of persons living in the house with the presence of a chronic disease. This is one of the few studies assessing the self-perceived health status and presence of chronic diseases in Roma settlements in Greece and investigating the associated social determinants of health in the world. Community-based participatory action research and health literacy programs are needed to mitigate health inequalities in Roma settlements.
... Veizi, personal communication, August 26, 2020). In contrast with common thinking, receiving social benefits or some social assistance does not affect Roma labor force participation (Abril & Millán, 2019). However, reliance on remittance from abroad may have contributed to low labor force participation, as an increasing number of young Roma have fled Albania seeking better economic conditions abroad. ...
Roma segregation in Albania has been causing growing concern since the fall of the communist regime. In this study, we analyze the effectiveness of the Albanian national action plan for Roma inclusion 2016–2020, in 2018, halfway in its implementation period. We gathered data on education and employment from the pre-implementation period (2015) and compared it with the latest available data in 2018. Interviews with local experts and surveys by the Balkan Barometer will provide background information to assess the current state of Roma integration in Albania. Moreover, descriptive statistics from national and international institutions and structured interviews will draw an independent narrative of Roma affairs. In our conclusion, we suggest moving beyond the “us and them” approach with programs run on inertia; our findings highlight that although encouraging achievements have been reached under the 2016–2020 action plan, real inclusion is still far, as statistical achievements do not say much about the quality of the education or job training provided under the 2016–2020 action plan.
... They also suffer from a high risk of poor health and low levels of well-being in comparison with the majority population [8][9][10]. Some of the reasons lie in an unhealthy lifestyle, featuring heavy smoking, poor nutrition and housing [11][12][13][14]; others lie in the Roma approach to a range of health issues, but social exclusion, discrimination and segregation caused by the majority were all mentioned as the main external factors having a strong influence on the health status of Roma [15,16]. Far-right political populism in Europe widely supports and strenghtens negative external factors [17]. ...
According to the general public in Slovakia, compliance with the law is problematic when it comes to Roma and health. Roma compliance with laws has not yet been studied. The aim of this is study was to explore the determinants of Roma behavior in the field of health laws. We used the concept of a semi-autonomous field proposed by Moore (1973) and the theory of planned behavior by Ajzen (1985). We found that Roma (non-)compliance with health laws was influenced by many different factors, such as beliefs, traditions, living conditions and culture. Group beliefs overrule national laws and also individual preferences, which tend to be subordinate to the group view. The less contact Roma from settlements have with non-Roma, the stronger their own rules are in the field of health. Roma health status is influenced by many factors: group beliefs and community traditions are stronger and overrule individual and state behavioral influence. A community-based participatory approach together with improvement of living conditions in cooperation with Roma is desirable.
... Hence, the dynamic nature of the concept of well-being makes it arguably one of the most difficult variables in educational contexts to be analysed. In this sense, differences among countries, cultures and even inside the same countries must also be considered (Unicef, 2012;Rees and Dinisman, 2015;Migliorini et al., 2019;Robayo-Abril and Millan, 2019). ...
This study presents the development and validation of a scale for Primary Education students that measures social well-being. A seven-factor structure was defined, with the factors being: achievement, cooperation, cohesion, coexistence, attitude towards school, attitude towards diversity and solidarity. 14 experts from independent European universities participated in the validation process of the scale. The 38-item scale showed considerable reliability (Cronbach’s alpha =0.91). The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the original seven-factor structure with consistent goodness and badness of fit indexes. The promising results in this study suggest that this scale may be suitable for an international audience.
... For much of this latter group, institutions of parliamentary democracy, progressive income tax 4 This can be seen in the numbers of people working (or shares of total employment) in subsistence agriculture (i.e., sole proprietorships working on small holdings) or in sectors where average wages are close to the poverty line. For more on Roma labor market and social exclusion, see Robayo and Millan (2019). 5 In addition to the data to this effect presented in the UNDP (2016) and EBRD (2017) systems, and official data on inequalities of wealth are either weaker or absent. ...
This paper focuses on how questions of inequalities in middle-income countries in Europe and Central Asia are dealt with in three recent studies: the EBRD’s “Transition Report 2016–17”; the World Bank’s 2018 study “Toward a new social contract: Taking on distributional tensions in Europe and Central Asia”; and UNDP’s “Regional human development report 2016. Progress at risk: Inequalities and human development in Eastern Europe, Turkey, and Central Asia.” While the three studies differ in terms of objectives, conceptual frameworks, country coverage, data and indicators, and policy recommendations, they also share important commonalities — particularly in terms of creating “regional” inequality narratives for transition economies, reconciling official data with common perceptions of inequalities in the region; improving data quality, quantity and availability, and changes in tax and social policies.
... For much of this latter group, institutions of parliamentary democracy, progressive income tax 4 This can be seen in the numbers of people working (or shares of total employment) in subsistence agriculture (i.e., sole proprietorships working on small holdings) or in sectors where average wages are close to the poverty line. For more on Roma labor market and social exclusion, see Robayo and Millan (2019). 5 In addition to the data to this effect presented in the UNDP (2016) and EBRD (2017) systems, and official data on inequalities of wealth are either weaker or absent. ...
This paper focuses on how questions of inequalities in middle-income countries in Europe and Central Asia are dealt with in three recent studies: the EBRD’s “Transition Report 2016–17”; the World Bank’s 2018 study “Toward a new social contract: Taking on distributional tensions in Europe and Central Asia”; and UNDP’s “Regional human development report 2016. Progress at risk: Inequalities and human development in Eastern Europe, Turkey, and Central Asia.” While the three studies differ in terms of objectives, conceptual frameworks, country coverage, data and indicators, and policy recommendations, they also share important commonalities — particularly in terms of creating “regional” inequality narratives for transition economies, reconciling official data with common perceptions of inequalities in the region; improving data quality, quantity and availability, and changes in tax and social policies.
This article discusses the results of the RomnoKher study 2021 in an international comparison. Initially, the history of international surveys of Roma households and the use of educational statistics in EU strategies for Roma integration are discussed and problematized. Subsequently, the findings of the RomnoKher study 2021 and current international studies for the areas of early childhood education, compulsory school attendance, early school and training dropouts, and school segregation are presented. For Germany, it becomes clear that the educational participation of 18- to 25-year-old Sinti and Roma has significantly improved compared to older cohorts, but still unmistakably falls below the nationwide average of values. Internationally, educational participation varies enormously between countries and is so deficient in terms of ensuring compulsory schooling in some states of the European Union and the Western Balkans that it must be spoken of in terms of blatant human rights violations.
In this technical report, we analyse through a poverty mapping and microsimulation exercise the effects of the conflict in Ukraine on children and vulnerable groups in Serbia.
Several aspects of the rights of the child depend on environment quality and conservation and the breach of environmental provisions may result in the violation of the rights of the child, either through criminal offences against environment, or through long-term application of environmental policies that are harmful for of the rights of the child or do not take into consideration the needs and best interest of the child. The authors analyse normative framework of the Republic of Serbia, including ratified international conventions as well as national legislative and strategic documents, pertinent to both children’s rights and environmental protection. The authors also analyse the data obtained from relevant reports describing current state of both - environmental and children’s rights protection in Serbia. The authors conclude that the rights of the child are not given enough attention in documents regulating environmental protection and sustainable development in the Republic of Serbia, particularly when it comes to children from marginalized groups living in substandard settlements.
In this paper, we calculate the economic costs of labour market exclusion of Roma women at the NUTS 2 level in Serbia in terms of output and fiscal benefits. The approach relies on the analysis of a scenario in which there are no differences in the level of wages or in labour force participation and employment rates between Roma and non-Roma labour market participants. We use Labour Force Survey (LFS) data from 2019 as a basis for the comparison of the Roma and non-Roma in terms of expected gross earnings for working-age individuals provided they are employed. The results show that the total economic loss (output + fiscal) due to the exclusion of Roma women from the labour market in Serbia amounts to about 197.7 million euros on an annual basis. Of that, 70.5% (139.3 million euros) come from output/productivity losses, and 29.5% (58.4 million euros) from fiscal losses. The largest contribution to total economic losses comes from the South and Eastern Serbia region (37.25%), followed by the Vojvodina region (28.25%), the Belgrade region (24.03%) and the Šumadija and Western Serbia region (10.46%).
Introduction:
To the present day, the prevalence and incidence of cervical cancer remains very significant. For disadvantaged groups such as the Roma, screening for the disease should be given increased attention, as members of this minority have lower access to health care and lower average health literacy.
Objective:
The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of cytological screening for cervical cancer among Hungarian-speaking Roma and non-Roma populations in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, in relation to the possible influencing factors. We also investigated respondents' perceptions of the importance of cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination. In this paper, we focus on presenting the data from Hungary in relation to the results from the other two countries. The study sample size was 1366.
Method:
Data were presented as mean ± SD and proportion. To compare Roma and non-Roma samples, the independent samples t-test was used. Cross tabulation with Pearson's chi-square test with calculating phi/Cramér's V effect size (p<0.05) was used to reveal association between ethnicity and studied variables.
Results:
In Hungary, a higher proportion of Roma women (p = 0.004) did not attend cytological screening for cervical cancer compared to non-Roma women, a difference confirmed in the other two countries. Non-Roma women attached greater importance to attendance at cervical cancer screening (p = 0.022). The Roma population aged 18-65 years had lower rates of annual cytological screening for cervical cancer compared to non-Roma in all age groups, while the annual screening rate decreased with age, regardless of ethnicity.
Conclusion:
Further health promotion to prevent cervical cancer in the Roma and non-Roma population would be necessary, regardless of national borders, specifically to address risk factors in all age groups, with a focus on young people, who are less aware of the risk, and older age groups, who mostly believe that the disease does not affect them due to their age. Orv Hetil. 2023; 164(36): 1416-1425.
In spite of the improvements in the inclusive policies and practices, Roma students are still underrepresented in higher education (HE) in Serbia. The main aim of this study is to ascertain contextual and personal factors of the success of Roma university students. Study participants were Roma studying at four public universities in Serbia who filled in a questionnaire on their familyand school-related experience, and participated in interviews on their educational trajectories, as well as in a two-day workshop dedicated to empowering students through reflecting upon their educational trajectories and personal strengths. Qualitative thematic analysis was applied on one open-ended question on life mottos from 89 questionnaires, 20 interviews and their products and elaborations of 16 workshop participants. It showed that psychological and instructional support from parents and teachers, in some cases - peers and Roma NGOs, together with scholarships and affirmative measures by enrolment, were important success factors. Students' life mottos predominantly contained the themes of fight and persistence. Most personal strengths were related to proactivity and optimism. This points to a highly developed psychological capital of Roma university students. Besides continuous financial support, participants stressed that the provision of continuous psychosocial support, informal learning opportunities and opportunities for peer mentorship and networking would result in a higher number of Roma students in HE.
Sinti und Roma waren historisch immer wieder von Ausgrenzung und Benachteiligung betroffen, was Formen der Versklavung in Osteuropa ebenso umfasst wie die nationalsozialistische Verfolgung und Ermordung. Obwohl die Benachteiligung und Diskriminierung von Sinti und Roma inzwischen in Deutschland und der Europäischen Union als anhaltendes Problem anerkannt wird, sind Stereotype und Vorurteile nach wie vor ebenso verbreitet wie Formen und Praktiken der alltäglichen und strukturellen Diskriminierung. Der Beitrag analysiert die grundlegenden Merkmale von Antiziganismus und gibt einen Überblick zum Stand der Forschung über die Diskriminierung von Sinti und Roma. Dabei wird insbesondere aufgezeigt, dass gegenwärtige Diskriminierung eng mit ihrer Vorgeschichte verschränkt ist.
Free open access here: https://door.donau-uni.ac.at/view/o:2583
Precarious housing conditions are on the rise across Europe. Precarious housing refers to housing that is either unaffordable or unsuitable, for example because it is overcrowded, in poor dwelling condition, poorly located or even unsafe. While there is much literature on the strong link between employment and housing insecurity and abundant investigations in different aspects of precarious housing, hardly any attempt has been made so far to provide a consolidated overview of the whole topic and thereby put these different facets into the joint perspective of housing-related poverty.
This Critical Guide adds to the debate on causes, symptoms, consequences and possible solutions and makes them accessible for teaching, learning and self-study across multiple disciplines. It is the result of “PusH – Precarious Housing in Europe”, a Strategic Partnership funded under Erasmus+. The seven chapters of this book examine a range of themes, focusing on how experiences of precarious housing intersect with other dynamics of precariousness, associated with insecure immigration status, racism and discrimination, class, wealth, and income disparities, and forms of homelessness and displacement. Each chapter draws on examples from across Europe to explore different experiences of precarious housing, and different responses to these conditions.
The Guide is accompanied by an open access website that provides further resources for teaching and learning
https://mdl.donau-uni.ac.at/push/
Background
Very little is known about the prevalence of disability among Roma children.
Objective
To estimate the prevalence of disability and significant cognitive delay among Roma and non-Roma children aged from 2-17 years in four West Balkan countries.
Methods
Secondary analysis of data collected in Round 6 of UNICEF’s Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys. Nationally representative samples of 6,290 Roma and 13,005 non-Roma children in Kosovo, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia and Serbia.
Results
Roma children were twice as likely to have a disability, a less severe disability, multiple disabilities and severe cognitive delay than their peers and were more likely to have functional limitations in all but one of the domains investigated.
Conclusions
Disability is significantly more prevalent among Roma children aged 2-17 years than among their non-Roma peers in four Western Balkan countries. Future research should focus on the extent to which differences in disability may be attributable to differential rates of exposure to a range of social determinants.
Past evidence on fertility responses to external shocks, including economic
recessions and outbreaks of infectious diseases, shows that people often put their childbearing plans on hold in uncertain times. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic influenced a wide spectrum of everyday life, from employment, financial wellbeing, uncertainty and health concerns, to work and family reconciliation, dating, marrying, and family planning, thus we may expect certain effect on fertility rates too. The possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the birth aggregate during 2021 in Serbia will be calculated based on three different methodologies: Bertillon Birth Effect methodology (BBE), Kearney and Levine (2020) methodology, and Pandemic Wave Impact methodology (PWI - as a newly proposed methodology approach). The primary aim of the paper is to show a potential range of influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the total number of live births in Serbia during 2021, and the secondary aim is to test our presumptions that this impact mustn’t always be negative and that the impact of the pandemic is weakening during the lifespan of the outbreak.
This discussion brief outlines the main relationships between waste management, gender inequality, social inequity and poverty in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). It summarises the findings from a review of secondary literature and publicly available databases on the environment, health, natural resources, gender equality, social equity and poverty, with a particular focus on Europe and BiH.
Since the early 1990s, international migration and its economic, political and social impact remains a fundamental issue in Albania. Albania is among the top countries in the world for the scale and intensity of international migration. Meanwhile, asylum seeking is a relatively new phenomenon for the country. Between 2010 and September 2019, around 193,000 Albanian citizens were recorded as first-time asylum seekers in EU countries. The phenomenon peaked in 2015, when around 67,000 Albanian citizens applied for asylum, but later went down as a result of expedited asylum procedures, stricter migration regulations and lower acceptance rates.
The report that has primarily made use of qualitative techniques covering all the regions of Albania attempts to offer a better understanding of return and reintegration dynamics that migrants face upon return and during reintegration in terms of health, education, housing, employment and other services. It analyses the profile of Albanian asylum seekers, drivers, history and experience of migration, return and reintegration, and provides some policy recommendations.
Drawing on ethnographic research from Albania, I examine Romani and Balkan Egyptian women’s health inequities. While it has been well documented that Romani people, who constitute Europe’s largest socioracial minority group, experience racism and marginalization, how these forms of social exclusion shape health outcomes in the Balkans remains limited. I argue that racism is a root cause of social and health inequities, and that Romani and Egyptian women experience unique bodily fatigue marked by extreme zor (“difficulty,” “constraint”). An examination of zor can potentially provide an understanding of how racism and marginalization are embodied over time
Roma und Sinti waren historisch immer wieder von Ausgrenzung und Benachteiligung betroffen, was Formen der Versklavung in Osteuropa ebenso umfasst wie die nationalsozialistische Verfolgung und Ermordung. Obwohl die Benachteiligung und Diskriminierung von Sinti und Roma inzwischen in Deutschland und der EU als anhaltendes Problem anerkannt sind, sind Stereotype und Vorurteile nach wie vor ebenso verbreitet wie Formen und Praktiken der alltäglichen Diskriminierung. Der Beitrag analysiert die grundlegenden Merkmale von Antiziganismus und gibt einen Überblick zum Stand der Forschung über die Diskriminierung von Sinti und Roma. Dabei wird insbesondere aufgezeigt, dass gegenwärtige Diskriminierung eng mit ihrer Vorgeschichte verschränkt ist.
Typically, individuals struggling with goal achievement seek advice. However, in the present investigation (N = 2,274), struggling individuals were more motivated by giving advice than receiving it. In a randomized, controlled, double-blind field experiment, middle-school students who gave motivational advice to younger students spent more time on homework over the following month than students who received motivational advice from expert teachers (Experiment 1). This phenomenon was replicated across self-regulatory domains: Strugglers who gave advice, compared with those who received expert advice, were more motivated to save money, control their tempers, lose weight, and seek employment (Experiments 2 and 3). Nevertheless, across domains, people erroneously predicted the opposite, expecting themselves and others to be less motivated by giving advice than receiving it (Experiments 2 and 3). Why are people blind to the motivational power of giving? Giving advice motivated givers by raising their confidence—a reality that predictors fail to anticipate (Experiment 4).
The objective of this article is to assess the impact of the new health financing reform in Georgia—‘medical insurance for the poor (MIP)’—which uses private insurance companies and delivers state-subsidized health benefits to the poorest groups of the Georgian population.
Methods To evaluate the reform we looked at access to health care services and financial protection against health care costs, which are two key dimensions proposed for the universal coverage plans. The data from two nationally representative Health Utilization and Expenditure Surveys (2007 and 2010) were used, and a difference-in-difference method of evaluation was applied.
Findings The MIP was not found to have a significant impact on service utilization growth nationwide, but in the capital city the MIP insured were 12% more likely to use formal health services and 7.6% more likely to use hospitals as compared with other areas of the country. The MIP impact on out-of-pocket health expenditures was greater in reducing costs of accessing services. The cost reductions were sizable and more pronounced among the poorest. Finally, the MIP significantly increased the odds of obtaining free benefits by insured individuals as compared with the control group. Such an increase was most noticeable for the poorest third of the population.
Conclusions Marginal changes in access to services and the geographically diverse impact of the MIP on service utilization points to other factors affecting health-seeking behaviour of the insured. These other factors include private insurer behaviour that may have used strategies for reducing claims and managing utilization. Equity impact of the MIP and improved financial protection, especially for the poor, are benefits to be retained by government policies when universal health coverage is rolled out nationwide and all citizens will be covered. The role of private insurance companies as financial intermediaries of the publicly funded programme needs further evaluation before moving forward.
In this paper we present and analyze the IMF’s labor market recommendations for advanced economies since the beginning of the crisis, both in general and specifically in program countries. Our analysis is informed by our reading of the theoretical and empirical literature on the design of labor market policies and institutions in advanced economies. We organize our discussion around two concepts: micro flexibility, namely the ability of the economy to allow for the reallocation of workers to jobs needed to sustain growth; and macro flexibility, namely the ability of the economy to adjust to macroeconomic shocks. Achieving both types of flexibility while protecting workers and maintaining incentives for workers and firms to invest in existing relations, is not that simple, and the design of labor market institutions faces delicate trade-offs.
JEL codes
E2, J3, J5, J6
This paper examines the impact of various determinants on female labor force participation in developing countries. Based on data from the World Values Survey (2008) and the United Nations’ 2011 Human Development Report and a sample of twenty-one developing economies we find that the female labor force participation rate is dependent on society’s norms with respect to single parenthood, the housewife role’s, whether men are better political leaders and executives, and the importance of good work hours. On the other hand, using a sample of fifty-five countries, we are able to show that the female labor force participation rate is a function of society’s norms with respect to the housewife role’s, and whether men have more right to a job, of the adolescent fertility rate, and of the log of per capita GDP. Depending on the sample used, society’s norms and/or the log of per capita GDP explain over sixty-percent of the total variation in female labor force participation rate across developing economies. Both the total fertility rate and urbanization do not seem to exert any influence on a woman’s decision to participate in the labor force in the second sample. Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist governments in developing countries identify areas that need to be improved upon in order to increase female labor force participation and hence contribute to economic development.
The paper uses data from Armenia to test the implications of remittance flows on behavior of receiving households. We find that remittance-receiving households work fewer hours and spend less on the education of their children. While saving more, these households are not leveraging their savings to borrow from the banking system to expand their business activities. This evidence suggests that the benefits of remittances might be overstated and emphasizes the importance of measuring their impact in a general- rather than a partial-equilibrium context.
In this paper we evaluate the effect of a large nutrition programme in rural Colombia on children nutritional status, school achievement and female labour supply. We find that the programme has very large and positive impacts. Dealing with the endogeneity of treatment is crucial, as the poorest children tend to select into the programme. Methods like Propensity Score Matching would even yield negative estimates of the impact of the program. Our results are robust to the use of instruments that do not depend on individual household choices. We also validate our evaluation strategy by considering the effect of the program on pre-intervention variables. Further, we explore the heterogeneity of the impact of the programme. Children from the poorest backgrounds are the ones that benefit the most.
There is an increasing burden of chronic illness in low and middle income countries, driven by TB/HIV, as well as non-communicable diseases. Few health systems are organized to meet the needs of chronically ill patients, and patients' perspectives on the difficulties of accessing care need to be better understood, particularly in poor resourced settings, to achieve this end. This paper describes the experience of poor households attempting to access chronic care in a rural area of South Africa.
A household survey (n = 1446 individuals) was combined with qualitative longitudinal research that followed 30 case study households over 10 months. Illness narratives and diaries provided descriptive textual data of household interactions with the health system.
In the survey 74% of reported health problems were 'chronic', 48% of which had no treatment action taken in the previous month. Amongst the case study households, of the 34 cases of chronic illness, only 21 (62%) cases had an allopathic diagnosis and only 12 (35%) were receiving regular treatment. Livelihoods exhausted from previous illness and death, low income, and limited social networks, prevented consultation with monthly expenditure for repeated consultations as high as 60% of income. Interrupted drug supplies, insufficient clinical services at the clinic level necessitating referral, and a lack of ambulances further hampered access to care. Poor provider-patient interaction led to inadequate understanding of illness, inappropriate treatment action, 'healer shopping', and at times a break down in cooperation, with the patient 'giving up' on the public health system. However, productive patient-provider interactions not only facilitated appropriate treatment action but enabled patients to justify their need for financial assistance to family and neighbours, and so access care. In addition, patients and their families with understanding of a disease became a community resource drawn on to assist others.
In strengthening the public sector it is important not only to improve drug supply chains, ambulance services, referral systems and clinical capacity at public clinics, and to address the financial constraints faced by the socially disadvantaged, but also to think through how providers can engage with patients in a way that strengthens the therapeutic alliance.
It is typically found that the labour force participation of women is negatively affected by the presence of young children. This paper focuses on the causality, in the sense of Granger's definition, between the participation of mothers of young children and childcare provision. It is found that childcare Granger causes participation without feedback, which supports the claim that women could be constrained in their participation by the lack of childcare facilities. The absence of a feedback mechanism raises the issue of childcare supply not reacting to market mechanisms. Copyright 2002 by Taylor and Francis Group
Poverty reduction remains one of the main challenges for Latin America at the end of the 20th century. Most of the countries in the region are classified as middle income by international standards, and yet they register poverty rates well above what would be expected given their GDP per capita. The reason for this "excess poverty" lies in the high inequality in the distribution of resources.
We assess whether imperfect knowledge of labor regulation hinders job creation at small and medium-sized firms. We partner with a labor law expert organization that provides information about labor regulation via newsletters and access to a specialized website. We randomly assign 1,800 firms to get access to this service for a 21-week period. Six months later, the average employment level at treatment firms was 12 percent higher than at control firms. The intervention decreased the perception that labor regulation is a constraint to hiring and increased optimal employment level. (JEL D22, D83, J63, L25, K31, O15)
This paper provides a guide to the new World Bank Human Capital Index (HCI), situating its methodology in the context of the development accounting literature. The HCI combines indicators of health and education into a measure of the human capital that a child born today can expect to achieve by her 18th birthday, given the risks of poor education and health that prevail in the country where she lives. The HCI is measured in units of productivity relative to a benchmark of complete education and full health, and ranges from 0 to 1. A value of |x| on the HCI indicates that a child born today can expect to be only || percent as productive as a future worker as she would be if she enjoyed complete education and full health.
The economic convergence of U.S. regions has slowed greatly, and rates of long-term nonemployment have even been diverging. Simultaneously, the rate of nonemployment for working age men has nearly tripled over the last 50 years, generating a social problem that is disproportionately centered in the eastern parts of the American heartland. Should more permanent economic divisions across space lead U.S. economists to rethink their traditional skepticism about place-based policies? We document that increases in labor demand appear to have greater effects on employment in areas where not working has been historically high, suggesting that subsidizing employment in such places could reduce the rate of not working. Proemployment policies, such as a ramped-up Earned Income Tax Credit, that are targeted toward regions with more elastic employment responses, however financed, could plausibly reduce suffering and materially improve economic performance.
Ensuring adequate and fair access to health care is a priority objective for European governments. This short paper discusses the measurement, distribution and policy implications of one indicator of access to health care: self-reported unmet need or foregone care. Two international surveys – EU-SILC and SHARE – include questions on unmet need and foregone care respectively, and therefore provide an opportunity for drawing comparisons on access to health care. It appears that, overall, people who report unmet need tend to be in worse health and with lower income. However, from a policy perspective, it is important to separate the causes of unmet need into those that are more relevant to policymakers from those that reflect individuals’ preferences and tastes, to view this indicator alongside other access measures such as health care contacts, distance to facilities, waiting times and supply characteristics, and to examine long-term trends in reporting unmet need and health outcomes.
We estimate the causal effects of childcare availability on the maternal employment rate using prefecture panel data constructed from the Japanese quinquennial census 1990-2010. We depart from previous papers on Japan by controlling for prefecture fixed effects, without which the estimates can be severely biased upward. Contrary to popular belief, childcare availability is uncorrelated with maternal employment when prefecture fixed effects are controlled. Evidence suggests that this is because households shift from using informal childcare provided by grandparents to the accredited childcare service, as more and more households do not live with grandparents. If this change of the household structure did not occur, the growth of childcare availability would have increased the maternal employment rate by two percentage points, which accounts for about 30% of the growth in the maternal employment rate from 1990 to 2010.
A seven-year randomized evaluation suggests education subsidies reduce adolescent girls' dropout, pregnancy, and marriage but not sexually transmitted infection (STI). The government's HIV curriculum, which stresses abstinence until marriage, does not reduce pregnancy or STI. Both programs combined reduce STI more, but cut dropout and pregnancy less, than education subsidies alone. These results are inconsistent with a model of schooling and sexual behavior in which both pregnancy and STI are determined by one factor (unprotected sex), but consistent with a two-factor model in which choices between committed and casual relationships also affect these outcomes.
Methods for small area estimation have received much attention in recent years due to growing demand for reliable small area statistics that are needed in formulating policies and programs, allocation of government funds, making business decisions and so on. Traditional area-specific direct estimation methods are not suitable in the small area context because of small (or even zero) area-specific sample sizes. As a result, indirect estimation methods that borrow information across related areas through implicit or explicit linking models and auxiliary information, such as census data and administrative records, are needed. This paper provides an introduction to small area estimation with emphasis on explicit model-based estimation. Methods covered include «off-the-shelf» re-weighting methods, simulated census methods used by the World Bank and formal empirical Bayes and hierarchical Bayes methods, based on explicit models. Formal model-based methods permit the estimation of mean squared prediction error and the construction of confidence intervals.
This paper provides a synthetic and systematic review on the effectiveness of various entrepreneurship programs in developing countries. It adopts a meta-regression analysis using 37 impact evaluation studies that were in the public domain by March 2012, and draws out several lessons on the design of the programs. The paper observes wide variation in program effectiveness across different interventions depending on outcomes, types of beneficiaries, and country context. Overall, entrepreneurship programs have a positive and large impact for youth and on business knowledge and practice, but no immediate translation into business set-up and expansion or increased income. At a disaggregate level by outcome groups, providing a package of training and financing is more effective for labor activities. In addition, financing support appears more effective for women and business training for existing entrepreneurs than other interventions to improve business performance.
Substantial uncertainty exists regarding the causal effect of health insurance on the utilization of care. Most studies cannot determine whether the large differences in healthcare utilization between the insured and the uninsured are due to insurance status or to other unobserved differences between the two groups. In this paper, we exploit a sharp change in insurance coverage rates that results from young adults “aging out” of their parents’ insurance plans to estimate the effect of insurance coverage on the utilization of emergency department (ED) and inpatient services. Using the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and a census of emergency department records and hospital discharge records from seven states, we find that aging out results in an abrupt 5 to 8 percentage point reduction in the probability of having health insurance. We find that not having insurance leads to a 40 percent reduction in ED visits and a 61 percent reduction in inpatient hospital admissions. The drop in ED visits and inpatient admissions is due entirely to reductions in the care provided by privately owned hospitals, with particularly large reductions at for profit hospitals. The results imply that expanding health insurance coverage would result in a substantial increase in care provided to currently uninsured individuals.
This article analyzes determinants of female participation in the Chilean labor force using classic determinants such as age, education, marital status, and number of children. The results indicate that the greater a woman's education level, the greater her labor participation; that older women participate more, though the rate of growth of this effect is decreasing; and the number of children that a woman has is negatively correlated to her decision to participate in the labor force. The article also examines machismo and other cultural values that influence female labor participation. The evidence suggests that the more the women have internalized machista and conservative cultural values, the less they participate in the labor market. Finally, the article concludes that the existence of these cultural factors as a group more than compensates for the positive effect of human capital variables and is statistically associated with low female labor participation in Chile.
In Spain, female labour force participation is among the lowest in Europe. This paper analyzes the extent to which female labour force participation is affected by the cost of formal childcare. Both decisions, labour force participation and formal childcare use, are jointly considered by means of a bi-variate probit model that accounts for the sample selection. Based on data from the Spanish Time Use Survey, the study indicates that Spanish mothers’ labour force participation is very elastic to changes in childcare costs.
This paper reviews methods for the estimation of dynamic discrete choice structural models and discusses related econometric issues. We consider single-agent models, competitive equilibrium models and dynamic games. The methods are illustrated with descriptions of empirical studies which have applied these techniques to problems in different areas of economics. Programming codes for some of the estimation methods are available in a companion web page.
Longitudinal data on household living standards open the way to a deeper analysis of the nature and extent of poverty. While a number of studies have exploited this type of data to distinguish transitory from more chronic forms of income or expenditure poverty, this paper develops an asset-based approach to poverty analysis that makes it possible to distinguish deep-rooted, persistent structural poverty from poverty that passes naturally with time due to systemic growth processes. Drawing on the economic theory of poverty traps and bifurcated accumulation strategies, this paper briefly discusses some feasible estimation strategies for empirically identifying poverty traps and long-term, persistent structural poverty, as well as relevant extensions of the popular Foster-Greer-Thorbecke class of poverty measures. The paper closes with reflections on how asset-based poverty can be used to underwrite the design of persistent poverty reduction strategies.
It has been argued that inequality should be of little concern in poor countries on the grounds that (1) absolute poverty in terms of consumption (or income) is the overriding issue in poor countries, and (2) the only thing that really matters to reducing absolute income poverty is the rate of economic growth. The author takes (1) as given but questions (2). He argues that there are a number of ways in which the extent of inequality in a society, and how it evolves over time, influences the extent of poverty today and the prospects for rapid poverty reduction in the future.
This article investigates how migrant social capital differentially influences individuals 'migration and cumulatively generates divergent outcomes for communities. To combine the fragmented findings in the literature, the article proposes a framework that decomposes migrant social capital into resources (information about or assistance with migration), sources (prior migrants), and recipients (potential migrants). Analysis of multilevel and longitudinal data from 22 rural villages in Thailand shows that the probability of internal migration increases with the available resources, yet the magnitude of increase depends on recipients' characteristics and the strength of their ties to sources. Specifically, individuals become more likely to migrate if migrant social capital resources are greater and more accessible. The diversity of resources by occupation increases the likelihood of migration, while diversity by destination inhibits it. Resources from weakly tied sources, such as village members, have a higher effect on migration than resources from strongly tied sources in the household. Finally, the importance of resources for migration declines with recipients' own migration experience. These findings challenge the mainstream account of migrant social capital as a uniform resource that generates similar migration outcomes for different groups of individuals or in different settings. In Nang Rong villages, depending on the configuration of resources, sources, and recipients, migrant social capital leads to differential migration outcomes for individuals and divergent cumulative migration patterns in communities.
In 1998, 33 million US adults aged 18 to 64 years lacked health insurance. Determining the unmet health needs of this population may aid efforts to improve access to care.
To compare nationally representative estimates of the unmet health needs of uninsured and insured adults, particularly among persons with major health risks.
Random household telephone survey conducted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia through the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
A total of 105,764 adults aged 18 to 64 years in 1997 and 117,364 in 1998, classified as long-term (>/=1 year) uninsured (9.7%), short-term (<1 year) uninsured (4.3%), or insured (86.0%).
Adjusted proportions of participants who could not see a physician when needed due to cost in the past year, had not had a routine checkup within 2 years, and had not received clinically indicated preventive services, compared by insurance status.
Long-term- and short-term-uninsured adults were more likely than insured adults to report that they could not see a physician when needed due to cost (26.8%, 21.7%, and 8.2%, respectively), especially among those in poor health (69.1%, 51.9%, and 21.8%) or fair health (48.8%, 42.4%, and 15.7%) (P<.001). Long-term-uninsured adults in general were much more likely than short-term-uninsured and insured adults not to have had a routine checkup in the last 2 years (42.8%, 22.3%, and 17.8%, respectively) and among smokers, obese individuals, binge drinkers, and people with hypertension, elevated cholesterol, diabetes, or human immunodeficiency virus risk factors (P<.001). Deficits in cancer screening, cardiovascular risk reduction, and diabetes care were most pronounced among long-term-uninsured adults.
In our study, long-term-uninsured adults reported much greater unmet health needs than insured adults. Providing insurance to improve access to care for long-term-uninsured adults, particularly those with major health risks, could have substantial clinical benefits. JAMA. 2000;284:2061-2069
Men in the United States with family incomes in the top 5 percent of the distribution in 1980 had about 25 percent longer to live than did those in the bottom 5 percent. Proportional increases in income are associated with equal proportional decreases in mortality throughout the income distribution. I discuss possible reasons for this gradient and ask whether it calls for the redistribution of income in the interest of public health. I argue that the existence of the gradient strengthens the case for income redistribution in favor of the poor but that targeting health inequalities would not be sound policy.
Using a new series of consistent, consumption-based poverty measures spanning forty years, we assess how much India's poor shared in the country's economic growth, taking into account its urban-rural and output composition. Rural consumption growth reduced poverty in both rural and urban areas. Urban growth brought some benefits to the urban poor, but had no impact on rural poverty. And rural-to-urban population shifts had no significant impact on poverty. Decomposing growth by output sectors, we found that output growth in the primary and tertiary sectors reduced poverty in both urban and rural areas but that secondary sector growth did not reduce poverty in either. Copyright 1996 by Oxford University Press.
The Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique is widely used to identify and quantify the separate contributions of group differences in measurable characteristics, such as education, experience, marital status, and geographical differences to racial and gender gaps in outcomes. The technique cannot be used directly, however, if the outcome is binary and the coefficients are from a logit or probit model. I describe a relatively simple method of performing a decomposition that uses estimates from a logit or probit model. Expanding on the original application of the technique in Fairlie (1999), I provide a more thorough discussion of how to apply the technique, an analysis of the sensitivity of the decomposition estimates to different parameters, and the calculation of standard errors. I also compare the estimates to Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition estimates and discuss an example of when the Blinder-Oaxaca technique may be problematic.
Using a sample of mother-child pairs from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 we explore the intergenerational transmission of a social norm regarding women¿s roles and examine its implications for the labor market behavior of females. We find that a mother¿s attitudes towards working women have a statistically significant effect on those of her children. Furthermore we find that the component of this social norm that is correlated with the individual¿s mother¿s work behavior during that individual¿s youth not only affects the labor market force participation decision of a female individual, but also has an equally strong association with that of the wife of a male individual. The findings indicate that cultural transmission contributes to the intergenerational similarity in the work behavior of females.
In this paper, we employ recently completed “poverty maps” for three countries as tools for an ex ante evaluation of the distributional incidence of geographic targeting of public resources. We simulate the impact on poverty of transferring an exogenously given budget to geographically defined sub-groups of the population according to their relative poverty status. We find large gains from targeting smaller administrative units, such as districts or villages. However, these gains are still far from the poverty reduction that would be possible had the planners had access to information on household level income or consumption. Our results indicate that a useful way forward might be to combine fine geographic targeting using a poverty map with within-community targeting mechanisms.
Kosovo Jobs Diagnostic
- Alexandru Cojocaru
Cojocaru, Alexandru. 2017. "Kosovo Jobs Diagnostic." Jobs Series 5, World Bank, Washington, DC.
Gender Gaps among Marginalized Roma in Serbia: A Field Report
- Ivan Dordevic
- Srdan Radovic
Dordevic, Ivan, and Srdan Radovic. 2018. "Gender Gaps among Marginalized Roma in Serbia: A Field
Report." Background Paper, Institute of Ethnography, Belgrade.
Local Integration of Refugees, Internally Displaced Persons, and Minority Groups: Report on State of Service Delivery within Local Public Administration Institutions, Final
- Eptisa
Eptisa. 2016. "Local Integration of Refugees, Internally Displaced Persons, and Minority Groups: Report
on State of Service Delivery within Local Public Administration Institutions, Final, 15 September
2016." Eptisa, Madrid.
ERRC (European Roma Rights Centre), ENS (European Network on Statelessness), and ISI (Institute
on Statelessness and Inclusion). 2017. "Roma Belong: Discrimination, Statelessness, and
Marginalisation of Roma in the Western Balkans and Ukraine." October, ERRC, Budapest.
Climate Change and Poverty: An Analytical Framework
- Stéphane Hallegatte
- Mook Bangalore
- Laura Bonzanigo
- Marianne Fay
- Ulf Narloch
- Julie Rozenberg
- Adrien Vogt-Schilb
Hallegatte, Stéphane, Mook Bangalore, Laura Bonzanigo, Marianne Fay, Ulf Narloch, Julie Rozenberg,
and Adrien vogt-Schilb. 2014. "Climate Change and Poverty: An Analytical Framework." Policy
Research Working Paper 7126, World Bank, Washington, DC.
Health Seeking Behaviour and the Health System Response
- Hausmann-Muela
- Joan Muela Susanna
- Isaac K Ribera
- Nyamongo
Hausmann-Muela, Susanna, Joan Muela Ribera, and Isaac K. Nyamongo. 2003. "Health Seeking
Behaviour and the Health System Response." DCCP Working Paper 14 (August), Disease Control
Piroirities Project, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London.
Impact Evaluation of the Conditional Cash Transfer Program for Secondary School Attendance in Macedonia
- Alex Armand
- Pedro Carneiro
Armand, Alex, and Pedro Carneiro. 2018. "Impact Evaluation of the Conditional Cash Transfer Program
for Secondary School Attendance in Macedonia." 3ie Impact Evaluation Report 69 (January),
International Initiative for Impact Evaluation, New Delhi.
Roma Inclusion in the Western Balkans
- Rosen Asenov
- Dorothee Buhler
- Marijana Jasarevic
- Natalia Millán
Asenov, Rosen, Dorothee Buhler, Marijana Jasarevic, and Natalia Millán. 2018. "Roma Inclusion in the
Western Balkans." Policy Brief, World Bank, Washington, DC.
Investing in Our Future: What Work(s) for Young Roma? Top 10 Best Practices of Roma Youth Employment
ERGO (European Roma Grassroots Organizations Network). 2017. "Investing in Our Future: What Work(s)
for Young Roma? Top 10 Best Practices of Roma Youth Employment." ERGO, Brussels.
Written Comments of the European Roma Rights Centre Concerning Serbia: For Consideration by the Human Rights Council
ERRC (European Roma Rights Centre). 2017. "Written Comments of the European Roma Rights Centre
Concerning Serbia: For Consideration by the Human Rights Council, Working Group on the
Universal Periodic Review, of the 29th Session (January-February 2018)." ERRC, Budapest. http://
www.errc.org/cms/upload/file/serbia-hrc-submission-30-june-2017.pdf.
Monitoring and Evaluation of European Cohesion Policy: Programming Period
European Commission. 2007. Discrimination in the European Union. Special Eurobarometer 263
(January). Brussels: Directorate-General Communication, European Commission.
---. 2014. "Roma Integration, 2014 Commission Assessment: Questions and Answers." Memo 14-249
(April 4), European Commission, Brussels. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-249_en.htm.
---. 2018. "Monitoring and Evaluation of European Cohesion Policy: Programming Period 2014-2020." European Social Fund Guidance Document (August), European Social Fund, European
Commission,
Brussels.
https://ec.europa.eu/sfc/en/2014/document/esf-monitoring-andevaluation-guidance.
Supporting Disadvantaged Children to Enter Kindergarten: Experimental Evidence from Bulgaria
- Elise Huillery
- Joost De Laat
- Paul Gertler
Huillery, Elise, Joost de Laat, and Paul Gertler. 2017. "Supporting Disadvantaged Children to Enter
Kindergarten: Experimental Evidence from Bulgaria." Impact Evaluation Report (June 2), World
Bank, Washington, DC.