engleski

Socio-economic Status and Reproductive profile of Bayash Roma Living in Two Regions of Croatia

Researches into health inequalities consistently show disadvantages in health status, morbidity and mortality for various ethnic minority groups. Croatia has a substantial Roma population, the exact size estimated to be over 30 000 (about 1% of the total population of Croatia). There are many reasons to suppose that the unsatisfactory health status observed among the Roma ethnic group can be associated with poverty. The aim of the present study was to assess the key characteristics related to socioeconomic status, living and lifestyle conditions, self-reported health and reproductive profile in the Bayash Roma population living in Baranja and Međimurje regions of Croatia. The investigation comprised a total of 266 adult Bayash individuals from Baranja and 164 from Međimurje (aged 41.3&plusmn ; ; 15.1 years). The study shows that the majority of the rural Roma population in Croatia lives in large groups, completely segregated from the rest of the population, in the outskirts of villages or small towns, with non-existent or unsatisfactory essential facilities, such as sewage, waterworks, garbage collection, or roads. The reported migratory pattern demonstrated that 88.8% of the examinees were born in the region of residence, which showed that the Bayash population was autochthonous and sedentary one. Financially, the Bayash primarily relayed on social welfare support allowance (84%) and child allowance (47%), while merely 2% were permanently and 23% occasionally employed. The proportion of the Bayash who had never attended school amounted to 33.3% (19.3% men and 60.9% women), while the number of schooling years for those who did attend school amounted to 5.3&plusmn ; ; 2.7. On average, the Bayash women married young (16.8 years) and gave birth to many children (3.9&plusmn ; ; 2.5). The regional difference in variables such as number of children, number of induced abortions and menarcheal age are so remarkable that they present a vivid example of the profound impact of wider social and economic environment (including war circumferences) on reproductive health and behavior in a relatively short period of time. Overall, our results indicate poor inclusion of the Bayash in the essential social service sectors such as health care, education, and employment, as well as substandard living conditions and unfavorable health-related behavior. Poor education, traditional attitudes towards female reproductive health, as well as a limited access to health services contributed to high fertility and a high rate of induced abortions. Since education and health insurance were found to have significant effects on the observed reproductive status and self-reported health, they should be targeted in planning public health actions for socially marginalized and economically deprived groups.

SES; poverty; reproduction; Roma; Croatia

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