Ringold, DenaRevenga, AnaTracy, William Martin2013-06-202013-06-202002-110-8213-5339-Xhttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/14055ROMA are the main poverty risk groups in many of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. However, information on their living conditions, and the characteristics of their poverty is scarce, fragmented, and often anecdotal. This paper analyzes data from a new cross-country household survey, conducted by the Center for Comparative Research, at Yale University. The survey is the first of its kind which addresses the ethnic dimension of poverty across countries, covering Roma in Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania. The paper finds that welfare among Roma households is significantly lower than that of non-Roma, in terms of both material deprivation (consumption and income), and other measures of deprivation, including housing status, education levels, and employment opportunities. Multivariate analysis confirm that, controlling for other household characteristics, there is a strong negative association between Roma ethnicity, and welfare. A large part of this association appears to be due to differences in endowments, and opportunities, but there is also an important component that is "structural". This component may reflect the influence of past, and present discrimination, exclusion, and cultural factors which may affect access to public services, e.g., through language barriers.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOPOVERTY INCIDENCEETHNIC CONCENTRATIONVULNERABLE GROUPSLIVING CONDITIONSCROSS-COUNTRY EXPERIENCEHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSWELFARE ELIGIBILITYINCOME GAPSCONSUMPTION STATISTICSHOUSING CONDITIONSEDUCATIONAL LEVELEMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIESMULTIVARIATE ANALYSISETHNICITYWELFARE ECONOMICSDISCRIMINATORY PRACTICESCULTURAL FACTORSACCESSIBLE SERVICESPUBLIC SERVICESLANGUAGE BARRIERS ACCESSION COUNTRIESAVERAGE AGECASE STUDIESCITIESCIVIL SOCIETYCOMMUNITIESCOMMUNITY LEADERSCOUNTRY LEVELDEMOGRAPHICSDISCRIMINATIONECOLOGYECONOMIC ACTIVITIESEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT STATUSETHNIC MINORITIESEXCHANGE RATEFAMILIESFOREST MANAGEMENTGENDERGYPSIESHEALTH CENTERSHEALTH STATUSHIGH UNEMPLOYMENTHOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICSHOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURESHOUSEHOLD SIZEHOUSEHOLD SURVEYHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHOUSEHOLD WELFAREHOUSEHOLDSHOUSESHOUSINGHOUSING CONDITIONSHOUSING QUALITYHUMAN DEVELOPMENTIMMIGRATIONINCOMEINDIVIDUAL LEVELINTERVIEWERISOLATIONLABOR FORCELABOR MARKETLEGISLATIONLIFE EXPECTANCYLIVING CONDITIONSLIVING STANDARDSLOCAL CURRENCYLOCAL OFFICIALSMARKET ECONOMYMATERIAL CONSUMPTIONMULTIVARIATE ANALYSISNEIGHBORHOODSPARENTSPOLICY IMPLICATIONSPOLICY OPTIONSPOPULATION GROUPSPOPULATION GROWTHPOVERTY GROUPPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY LINESPOVERTY REDUCTIONPOVERTY RISKPOVERTY RISKSPREGNANCYPRIMARY EDUCATIONPUBLIC SERVICESRANDOM SAMPLERELIGIONRELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONSRISK GROUPSROMARURAL AREASSAMPLE SIZESSCHOOLSSETTLEMENTSETTLEMENTSSEVERE POVERTYSOCIAL ASSISTANCESOCIAL PROTECTIONSOCIAL SERVICESTOWNSTRANSITION PROCESSUNEMPLOYMENTURBAN AREASVILLAGESWASTEWATER PRICINGWATER RESOURCESWorld Bank10.1596/0-8213-5339-X