Roma and Travellers in Six Countries

Roma and Travellers in Six Countries

Roma and Travellers living in western EU countries are less often in the limelight than those living in central, eastern and southern EU countries. While they represent a smaller proportion of the population in the west, they also face problems with social exclusion, marginalisation and discrimination.

This report presents findings from the survey conducted by FRA in 2019 covering Roma and Travellers populations in Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The survey included interviews with almost 4,700 Roma and Travellers, collecting information on more than 8,200 individuals living in their households. The findings present a bleak, but familiar, picture of discrimination and deprivation fuelled by anti-Gypsyism. Almost half of the Roma and Travellers surveyed felt discriminated against and experienced hate-motivated harassment, in the year before the survey.

The survey results presented here show the urgent need for the post-2020 Strategic EU Framework for Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation to accelerate Roma inclusion efforts that can break the vicious cycle of social exclusion, discrimination and poverty that contributes to such disturbing results.

Providing Quality Early Childhood Education and Care: Results from the Starting Strong Survey 2018

For most children, early childhood education and care (ECEC) provides the first experience of life in a group away from their families. This experience plays a crucial role in children’s learning, development and well-being. The benefits of high-quality ECEC are not restricted to children’s first years of life. However, little is known about this first experience. What do children learn and do in ECEC settings? With which staff do children interact at their centres? Do all children face the same opportunities to enrol in high-quality settings? What are the main spending priorities to raise the quality of ECEC? These are key questions for parents, staff and policy makers.

The OECD Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS Starting Strong) is the first international survey that focuses on the ECEC workforce. It offers an opportunity to learn about the characteristics of the workforce, the practices they use with children, their beliefs about children’s development and their views on the profession and on the sector. This first volume of findings, Providing Quality Early Childhood Education and Care, examines multiple factors that can affect the quality of ECEC and thereby can influence children’s learning, development and well-being.

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