How do gypsies make money

However, the term is also used to specifically describe the New Traveller community born through the free festival movement in the s and onwards. People within this community tended to favour low-impact, alternative, eco-minded and festival-related lifestyles.

Later laws made life difficult for this community, and many New Travellers moved to Europe while those that remained regrouped into smaller communities. As of , there are now people born into 3 rd and 4 th generations of families who follow what is now known as the New Traveller way of life.

Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers are recognised ethnic groups according to English law. It depends. However, there are several Romani groups in Europe who have claimed this word and use it with pride. The Romani people are made up of many, many diverse groups all around the world.

This includes Romany and Roma. Each group is culturally unique and distinct, but each also belongs to the worldwide ethnic family of Romani people. There are many reasons. From visiting loved ones, going to funerals or family occasions to being part of their heritage. People may also travel for work, and some may travel because discrimination makes it difficult to settle.

Councils have a responsibility to identify land for Travellers to live and stop in their area, but the vast majority fail to do this. There are Gypsies and Travellers across every profession — nurses, police, social workers, company directors and so much more.

Dressing themselves in bright clothing and practicing fortunetelling, the Roma quickly attracted the ire of the Roman Catholic Church, but also the allure of the forbidden. To earn a living today, gypsies might weave furniture, make bricks, resell clothing and goods, or trade horses, but employment is typically a side note in their existence. Sources repeatedly underscore the difficulty that the Roma have in obtaining regular work because employers often don't want to hire them.

Even in Eastern European countries where the communist regime allocated factory jobs for gypsies, their employment evaporated first after the iron curtain fell in [source: Godwin]. Indeed, many European gypsies subsist on begging and neighbors repeatedly complain of stealing.

While those accusations may be overblown, even Roma will warn outsiders not to trust other Roma [source: Godwin]. After centuries of persecution and enslavement, Roma are understandably hesitant to open their homes to non-Roma , or gadje , and penetrating gypsy culture in general is a tall order.

The families band together in clan systems, cordoned off from mainstream society. The familial structure is often strictly paternalistic, with women tending to home and children, while men may or may not work. One newspaper report called it a "secret courting ritual". It's just one nasty boy they showed. Brigid adds: "Grabbing has never happened to my kids. I have honestly never heard of it. It's all make-believe. We don't want that for our daughters. Helen is also worried that Traveller women are being portrayed as rich and spoilt when, in fact, life is a struggle for the majority.

Mine was secondhand. They'll now be saying we are all criminals, or sponging off the state. I ask O'Roarke what she thinks the future holds for Travellers. She is worried. And if these women lose the little support they have, they literally will be left to rot. She is concerned that problems affecting Traveller women and girls, such as lack of education, forced and early marriage, and abuse within the home, are not being taken seriously.

But some say that things are slowly improving. Would Kathleen ever marry again? It is out of the question, she tells me. Like other nomadic travelers, many gypsies also provide for themselves and their families by working odd jobs or seasonal jobs.

Most gypsies are hard working and are willing to pick up new skills in order to earn a living. In fact, some gypsies make a full time living as handymen such as builders, painters, and gardeners. As gypsy women as a group take great pride in their appearance and spend countless hours each week on their own hair, makeup and nails.

A small percentage of gypsies take to begging in order to supplement their income and travels. Although of course, the vast majority of gypsies are involved in traditional, paid employment.

If you see a gypsy busking on the street it pays to be vigilant as some gypsies who busk on the streets, have plenty of money to survive and simply busk as a lifestyle choice.