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" I Even Met Happy Gypsies " : Life Satisfaction of Roma Youth in the Balkans

Author

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  • Laetitia Duval

    (Imperial College London)

  • François-­charles Wolff

    (UN - Université de Nantes, INED - Institut national d'études démographiques)

Abstract

Economic studies on the Roma population, which is the largest and the poorest ethnic minority in Europe, remain sparse due to the limited availability of appropriate micro level data. This paper provides a comparative analysis of life satisfaction between Roma and non-­‐Roma young adults aged between 15 and 24 using survey data collected from Serbia in 2010 and from Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2011. Results from raw answers show that young Roma living in settlements are less satisfied with life than non-­‐Roma. However, we find instead that the former group is more satisfied once we account for the fact that Roma have more disadvantaged characteristics on average. Also, Roma young adults expect a better life within one year compared to non-­‐Roma in Serbia while there is no difference in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Suggested Citation

  • Laetitia Duval & François-­charles Wolff, 2015. "" I Even Met Happy Gypsies " : Life Satisfaction of Roma Youth in the Balkans," Working Papers hal-01219250, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01219250
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-01219250
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    Keywords

    Life satisfaction; ethnicity; youth; Roma; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Serbia;
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