Roma ethnic minority risk of social exclusion in Poland

Abstract

Roma people are one of the most colourful minorities in Poland and arouse interest and controversy among contemporary Polish society, nearly monolithic in terms of ethnic origin and nationality. At present, the socio-economic situation of Roma people in Poland and in other European countries is difficult and marked with social exclusion. In the article the author identifies and describes the following symptoms of social exclusion experienced by Roma people in Poland: lack of tolerance in Polish majority, problems relating to the functioning on the labour market and access to education, low standard of living as well as the need for some actions for Roma people in Poland to be taken by governmental authorities. The author refers in the article to numerous results of current surveys on the attitude adopted by Poles towards Roma people, which prove intolerant attitude of Poles to this minority. The second fact that, in the author’s opinion, confirms social exclusion of Roma people in Poland is extremely high unemployment rate (90%) among Polish Roma, a consequence of disappearance of typical Roma professions, cultural limitations, stereotypes and very low level of education. This last reason further proves social exclusion of Roma people, although the situation in this respect is dynamically changing. As a result of actions taken by governmental authorities and because of financial support and creation of a post of a Roma assistant and a support teacher since 2004 Roma children have been widely attending schools. Roma ethnic minority is also excluded because of its very low standard of living characterised by the author on the basis of her own research carried out in the Małopolska Region. At the end of the article the author indicates governmental actions aimed at fighting the symptoms of social exclusion taken within the “Program for the Roma Community in Poland”.