Abstract
Gypsies and Travellers 1 are one of the most excluded black and minority ethnic (BME) communities in the UK across numerous domains. Despite the increased policy focus on levels of unemployment and economic inactivity among BME groups in recent years, little attention has been paid to the economic position of Gypsies and Travellers, not least because there is a lack of systematic data on the employment status and working patterns of these communities. Few of the programmes set up to tackle unemployment specifically target this population and, anecdotally, a mismatch exists in relation to mainstream back-to-work programmes and community needs. This article considers a series of related studies that explore the accommodation histories and adaptive strategies utilised by housed Gypsies and Travellers across four locations in southern England. One strand of these studies is concerned with employment opportunities and practices following the transition into housing. We draw on these findings to discuss the role of cultural adaptations in mediating the wider socioeconomic context and how recourse to collective responses helps to shape economic and labour market outcomes for members of this group.
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1.In both academic and policy debates, defining Gypsies and Travellers has proven notoriously difficult. Under the Race Relations Act (1976) and the Race Relations (Amendment) Act, Gypsies and Irish Travellers are recognised minority groups. Previously, nomadism was a key feature of legal definitions, but, more recently, with the settlement of many members of those communities, the focus has shifted to ‘persons with a cultural tradition of nomadism and/or caravan dwelling’ (Department for Communities and Local Government (2006), GTAA Draft Practice Guidance, p. 6). One authoritative report refers to ‘Gypsies’ as ethnic groups created through a diaspora of commercial, nomadic and other groups from India from the tenth century and their subsequent mixing with European and other groups. ‘Travellers’ refer to members of indigenous European ethnic groups whose culture is distinguished by self-employment, occupational fluidity and nomadism. The author points to a history of contact and mixing between the groups who share a common cultural base (J. P. Liegeois and N. Gheorge, Roma, Gypsies, Travellers (Strasbourg, Council of Europe, 2004)) .
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