While 13 percent of the Slovak population is exposed to the risk of poverty, in the case of the ethnic Roma community, the corresponding risk is 87 percent, according to a European Union Minorities and Discrimination survey. Its aim was to compare the current state with the findings from 2008. The study brings together statistics from nine EU Member States, including Slovakia, on the protection of fundamental rights of the Roma. It also takes into account key performance indicators to measure progress in the implementation of national Roma integration strategies.
Almost a third (31 per cent) of Roma in Slovakia covered by the survey, including children, were living in households where some of the family members went to bed hungry at least once in the past month because the family could not afford to buy enough food for all. Two thirds of young Slovak Roma aged 16-24 years are out of work or fail to attend school. While the total share of those gainfully employed in Slovakia is 68 percent, in case of the Roma community this was down to a quarter.
