Czech survey: Romani people have worst coexistence, employment since 1997

Relations between Romani people and the other inhabitants of the Czech Republic are evaluated as poor by 87 % of the population, while 9 % believe they are good, according to a survey by the Center for Public Opinion Research (Centrum pro výzkum veřejného mínění – CVVM). Compared to last year’s survey, the evaluation of coexistence has deteriorated to the lowest levels since such surveys began to be conducted in 1997. The CVVM survey contacted 1 000 people over the age of 15 with questions about coexistence with Roma from 8 – 15 April 2013.

Since 2012, the share of positive evaluations has fallen by five percentage points and the share of negative evaluations has risen by five percentage points. The current evaluations are the worst ever since comparative surveys began to be conducted in 1997. It was only in 2009 that values were recorded such that they are statistically comparable, current results. From those results, it follows that the coexistence of Romani people with others is perceived as problematic by a significant majority of the public –  87 % of respondents consider it generally poor, with 36 % of them even considering it "very poor". Only 9 % of respondents consider coexistence as generally "good", with most of those choosing the weaker of the positive responses, "pretty good", and only a single instance of "very good". A total of 4 % of respondents said they didn’t know how to answer the question.

This survey once again shows how enormous the influence of the media is, which reports negatively about Romani people, solely in connection with crime, in the vast majority of cases. Relations between the majority and the Romani populations are perceived as good significantly more often by those who have Romani acquaintances or friends and by those who live near them and whose information about them is not solely delivered by the media or through the avalanches of rumors spread online.   

Almost half of the respondents to this survey reportedly live near Romani people. Respondents reported that coexistence between the non-Romani and Romani populations is rather more friendly in their own neighborhoods than it is in the Czech Republic overall (although the evaluations for their own neighborhoods were still predominantly negative). Not quite two-fifths (37%) of respondents who said Romani people live near them also said coexistence between other inhabitants and Romani ones in their own neighborhoods is generally good, with 4 % saying coexistence is "very good" and 33 % saying it is "pretty good". On the other hand, three-fifths (59 %) of respondents from this group perceive coexistence in their neighborhoods critically, with 40 % considering it "rather poor" and 19 % even considering it "very poor". At total of 4 % of respondents were unable to evaluate coexistence between non-Romani and Romani inhabitants of their neighborhoods.

Comparisons over time show that since 2006, the evaluation of coexistence between other inhabitants and Romani ones has not significantly changed. Up until this year, the results were relatively better than they currently are. 

Romani employment conditions are worse

In comparison with the situations of other inhabitants, the vast majority of the Czech public perceives that Romani people have worse opportunities for employment. About three-fifths (61 %) of respondents held this opinion. In no other area of life surveyed do more than half the respondents believe the Romani population enjoys worse opportunities than the majority. More than one-third (37 %) of respondents believe Romani people have worse opportunities when it comes to asserting themselves in civic and public life, while approximately two-fifths consider the situation of Roma in this area as comparable with others and 14 % believe Romani people even are better off than others in this respect. When it comes to earning qualifications, 28 % of respondents said Roma have worse conditions, while 21 % said they have worse opportunities for finding housing and 19 % said their conditions for access to education are are worse. With respect to finding housing, 50 % of respondents believe Romani people have better opportunities than the majority population. About 10 % of respondents consider Roma people to have worse opportunities for developing their own culture, while 9 % believe Roma have a harder time ensuring their personal security, 9 % believe Roma have a harder time negotiating with authorities, and 8 % believe Roma have a harder time defending their interests in conflicts and civil disputes.