World Of The Romani

A very important element in understanding how gypsies made their living is how they conducted their overall lives. Gypsies are very nomadic people, and though a majority of them live in central and eastern Europe they are constantly traveling because it is a customary tradition in the gypsy culture. Romani people typically have very large families being that in their culture it is considered a "high status" to have more children. They would travel with their families in caravans, and settle at their destination in tents. As time went on, they modernized a little bit, per instance using cars rather than carts of wagons. The main thing keep in mind though is that Romani people are not a favored group of people in most countries (as mentioned before). Anti-gypsy laws are still in effect today.

So gypsies aren't often involved with very high-paying, prestigious careers. In fact, given their lifestyle, they pretty much do whatever they can get their hands on given the area they are in. Common jobs for gypsy males are horse dealers, carpentry, repairmen, and carved and sold objects made from wood. Many gypsies have a knack for singing, playing instruments, and dancing. Sometimes you can find them performing for money, and there are also famous Romani musicians such as Geni or Vadim Kolpakov.

Women tended to be fortune tellers, but their primary responsibility was taking care of the family and the animals that they took with them. Gypsies tended to have a rep for being crooks and swindlers. This could possibly be attributed to their low-brow lifestyle, but would make sense in light of needing to provide for a very large family with hardly any money to do so.

Sources:
http://www.english-online.at/people/romani/romani-roma-gypsies.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people