What?

The Roma and Travellers Survey 2018-2019 will collect comparable data in six selected Member States Belgium, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Information will be collected on a wide range of aspects of social life, which will include core socio-demographic indicators such as labour market participation and level of education, as well as housing and living standards, including access to public utilities and basic housing amenities. Furthermore, respondents will be interviewed on their experiences of discrimination in a variety of situations. These include in education, at work, when looking for work and housing and accessing healthcare. It will also look at contact with the police. 

'Roma and Travellers’ is used as an umbrella term in the definition of the Council of Europe. It encompasses Roma, Sinti, Kale, Romanichals, Boyash/Rudari, Balkan Egyptians, Eastern groups (Dom, Lom and Abdal) and groups such as Travellers, Yenish, and the populations designated under the administrative term 'Gens du voyage', as well as people who identify themselves as Gypsies.

Why?

Although Roma and Travellers are the largest ethnic minority in the European Union, there is a lack of official statistical data on core socio-demographic indicators, since EU level data are not disaggregated by ethnic origin. FRA covers this gap with its own surveys which provide evidence on progress made on Roma and Traveller inclusion. The data also raise awareness on the respect of fundamental rights of people of Roma and Traveller origin. In addition, they assist institutions and policy makers at the European Union and national level in developing measures to tackle the discrimination and exclusion of Roma and Travellers. The data that will be collected in 2018-2019 through the Roma and Travellers Survey will complement FRA's existing data from Member States, namely the 2011 Roma Survey and the 2016 Second European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey (EU-MIDIS II).

How?

The design of the survey is based on background research and expert consultations and uses FRA’s extensive experience on surveying ‘hard-to-reach’ populations. The survey will be implemented in consultation with Roma communities and national organisations. Interviews will be mainly conducted face-to-face, with trained interviewers using a computerised questionnaire. Only people who self-identify as Roma or Travellers or any related group, irrespective of their nationality or residence status, will be surveyed. 

The main-stage fieldwork started at the end of 2018 and will end by June 2019. First results will be made available in April 2020.