Employment and unemployment; employment policies European Social Policy course
(Un)employment, employment policies 2 Employment and unemployment; employment policies The EU Lisbon Strategy: More and better jobs Work as a social phenomenon Labour market and governmental intervention Unemployment: causes and consequences Indicators of employment and unemployment Employment policies
(Un)employment, employment policies 3 The EU Lisbon Strategy: More and better jobs The European Employment Strategy: a Key Component of the Lisbon Strategy At the Lisbon European Council (March 2000), the European Union set a new strategic goal to raise the overall EU employment rate to 70% and to increase the number of women in employment from an average to more than 60% by 2010.Lisbon European Council The Stockholm European Council (March 2001) added two intermediate and one additional target: the employment rate should be raised to 67% overall by 2005, 57% for women by 2005 and 50% for older workers by The Barcelona Council (March 2002) confirmed that full employment was the overarching goal of the EU and called for a reinforced Employment Strategy to underpin the Lisbon strategy in an enlarged EU.Stockholm European CouncilBarcelona Council
(Un)employment, employment policies 4 Work as a social phenomenon Importance of work for the satisfaction of human social needs, self-esteem Income from work – resource of individual independence, freedom of choice: employment as an ‚invisible‘ social policy Diverse forms of labour: professions, sectors, technological change, paid/unpaid/voluntary work, labour and gender Political importance of labour: class structure, Trade Unions and Employers‘ Associations, tripartite institutions Labour flexibility in space, time, and through the life course
(Un)employment, employment policies 5 Labour market and governmental intervention Labour market: Demand and supply relations Contractual basis or self- employment Territorial, sectoral constraints Internationalization (free movement of labour within the EU and its implementation) Governmental intervention: Legal framework (Labour Code) Labour courts (some countries) Government as an employer in the public sector Passive and active employment policies International treaties and organizations (International Labour Organization)
(Un)employment, employment policies 6 Unemployment: causes and consequences Who is unemployed? able-bodied person (no serious handicaps) willing to work actively seeking work unable to find a job. Causes of unemployment: objective (structure of national economy, phase of the economic cycle, political/administrative reasons), and subjective (some people prefer unemployment to work). Theoretical dispute over the unemployment: Beveridge: Unemployment is social evil, detrimental to human beings and society; associated with rising poverty, social exclusion, bad health, family problems, personal disorders, crime, etc. Mainstream economists: Threat of unemployment creates a positive impetus to work harder. Culturally embedded and ideologically biased discussion about „acceptable“ levels of unemployment. Types of unemployment: structural, cyclic, friction… / short-term/long-term
(Un)employment, employment policies 7 Indicators of employment and unemployment Employment: share of adults in specific categories who participate in the labour market Unemployment: share of adults in specific categories who do not participate in the labour market Specific categories significant to the functioning of the labour market: nation, region, gender, age group, education, profession. Approaches to measure un/employment: Share of unemployed, as registered by Labour Offices, to the total population of employed and unemployed Share of unemployed, as indicated by representative surveys conducted by Statistical Office, to the total population of employed and unemployed
(Un)employment, employment policies 8 Rocketing unemployment rate in the CEE countries in the beg of the 90s.
(Un)employment, employment policies 9 Long-term unemployment rate, EU 15
(Un)employment, employment policies 10 Employment policy and unemployment, Czech Republic Year % N/A34 Expenses on active employment policy as the percentage of all expenses on employment policy, Czech Republic Source: Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Czech Republic (2004) Year %0,74,12,63,53,22,93,55,27,59,48,88,99,810,39,58,9 The Official Rate of Registered Unemployment in the Czech Republic (in %, end of the year) Source: Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Czech Republic (2005)
(Un)employment, employment policies 11 Employment policies Employment policies consist of two inseparable parts: Broader economic policies Labour market policies Broader economic policies aim at encouraging economic growth (and derived demand for labour) by infrastructural projects, fiscal policies (e.g. tax incentives), supporting foreign and domestic investment, trade policies, etc. There are active and passive labour market policies (see below)
(Un)employment, employment policies 12 Active and passive labour market policies Active labour market policies: Training, re-training and re- qualification Programmes of public works Financial incentives to self- employment Financial incentives for employers to create new jobs Job placement programmes (job- finding and job-matching services) Consultative services (identification of capabilities of clients and training sessions how to find a job) Special programmes for disabled and other dispriviledged persons Passive labour market policies: Unemployment benefits (unemployment insurance benefits, tax-based benefits) Public, commercial, and non-profit labour market institutions providing employment services
(Un)employment, employment policies 13 Assessment of Active Labour Market Policies MeasureDescriptionAssessment in OECD countries Employment services Placement, counseling, and vocational guidance; job search courses and intensive counseling for the disadvantaged; assistance with geographic mobility Found to be effective in increasing job placements in United Kingdom, United States, and Netherlands Training Training programs focused on the adult unemployed or those at risk of losing their job; training takes place usually at training centers or in enterprises Mixed evaluations; targeted programs, successful in Canada, Netherlands, and United States; general programs improved job prospects in Norway, Sweden, and United Kingdom but were ineffective in Federal Republic of Germany and United States Direct job creation; subsidies for regular employment Wage subsidies for recruiting or retaining particular workers (such as long-term unemployed) Severe problems of deadweight and substitution, implying very low net employment effect Enterprise allowance Grants or prepayment of benefits to allow the unemployed a capital sum to start up their own business Most studies find quite high survival rate of enterprises, but deadweight of about 50 percent Temporary public sector jobs (public works) Temporary work in the public sector for the unemployed Relatively few studies of this practice, which is now uncommon in OECD countries
(Un)employment, employment policies 14 EU employment policy Building on its experience until 2004, and in complement to the Mid-Term Review of the Lisbon strategy, the European Commission launched the new Social Agenda for the period In order to achieve one of its two priority areas, full employment, the revamped cycle of the European Employment Strategy under the Lisbon mid-term review envisages a new measure to foster contact with concerned players at all levels (Communication 2005).
(Un)employment, employment policies 15 Employment and unemployment; employment policies 1. Communication from the Commission on the Social Agenda – (COM(2005) 33 final) of February Communication from the Commission on the Social Agenda 2. European Employment Strategy. employment_strategy/index_en.htm# employment_strategy/index_en.htm# 3. Potůček, M.: Not Only the Market. Budapest, CEU Press 1999.