World Mental Health Day
Today is World Mental Health Day, an opportunity to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilise efforts in support of mental health.
Today is World Mental Health Day, an opportunity to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilise efforts in support of mental health.
Poor job quality, including high emotional demand, working at high speed and to tight deadlines, is widespread among several of the sectors and professions deemed essential, key or critical during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Skills, skills, skills! Skills for people, skills for competitiveness, skills for sustainability, an event on 20 September with the five social EU Agencies in collaboration with the European Parliament and the European Commission will explore skills needs in the EU.
Eurofound has just published a new episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast on skills in Europe. In the episode Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Research Manager Tina Weber, Eurofound Senior Research Manager Gijs van Houten, and Giovanni Russo, Senior Expert at CEDEFOP – the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training.
Workers on non-permanent contracts and workers with no formal contract are less satisfied with the functioning of democracy in their country, as are workers experiencing job insecurity.
The EU’s financial commitment to social issues - with government spending on social services such as social protection, education and health claiming a significant 35% of GDP in 2020 - underpinned its resilience to the economic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A new joint report by ECDC and Eurofound concludes that adult work-life balance was significantly affected by measures such as stay-at-home orders and recommendations, closures of day-care, primary and secondary schools and national teleworking recommendations implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While some environmental indicators have improved across the EU, there are large inequalities between people at different income levels in Europe, with low-income populations drastically worse off in terms of the quality of their neighbourhood and housing.
Extreme temperatures in southern Europe have impacted workers’ health and resulted in industrial action in some EU Member States. Eurofound’s research shows that, already in 2015, 23% of workers in the EU were exposed to high temperatures during at least a quarter of their working time.
While losses in real minimum wages have occurred in several countries across the European Union, these have not eroded the long-term gains of purchasing power that have occurred across the EU since 2013. In an effort to offset inflation, governments have significantly increased nominal minimum wages across Europe. In 2023, the median nominal increase was almost 11%, compared with just 5% in 2
The move to a climate-neutral economy doesn't only represent risks and costs, but it has the potential to create exciting new opportunities with net employment gains, new business sectors and a healthier environment. Eurofound and the EEA have brought together EU level and regional experts and stakeholders to explore what these socioeconomic impacts could be and how policy could respond.
Focusing on prevention, and the strategic application of social support at the right time, is an important aspect of reducing evictions and ensuring citizens have affordable housing options in Europe.
Eurofound (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions) is a tripartite EU body, whose mission is to provide knowledge to assist in the development of better social, employment and work-related policies.