A common understanding of labour market segmentation is necessary to tackle poor quality jobs with lack of opportunities, affecting especially young people, women, immigrants and lower-educated individuals on the labour market. A new ambitious report explores why segmentation is problematic and identifies policy approaches which could be helpful in tackling this phenomenon.
As Romania celebrates its national day on Sunday, we mark the occasion by sharing our research and analysis to provide a snapshot of current living and working conditions.
First-generation migrants in the EU are significantly more likely to have attained tertiary qualifications than natives and second-generation migrants. However, first-generation migrant workers are also more likely to have primary education only, compared to the native population. This shows that educational attainment is more polarised.
First-generation migrant workers are 10 times more likely to report experiencing discrimination linked to race, ethnic background or colour than native workers; second-generation migrants are five times more likely. Overall, just 2% of workers reported discrimination on these grounds in the European Working Conditions Survey, but for those that are first-generation migrants this climbed to 10%.
Eurofound research shows that people with disabilities were more likely to be in employment in 2016 than in 2011. This is particularly the case for people with disabilities that have a third-level education. Despite these improvements, there remains a significant employment gap between people with and without disabilities.
Second-generation migrants with an EU background are more likely to be employed and in high-performing positions, such as managerial roles, than first-generation migrants – and even outperform natives in terms of employment rate.
Trade unions in many EU Member States face the issue of declining membership. This is a fundamental challenge for organised labour, but it is premature to speak about the redundancy unions: when it comes to important decisions affecting the workplace, restructuring being one, trade unions remain a powerful mechanism of employee voice.
Quality of life in Latvia has improved significantly in recent years with the share of people struggling to make ends meet reducing from 76% in 2003 to 52% in 2016. At the same time, self-reported life satisfaction increased from 5.6 in 2003 to 6.3 in 2016 and happiness levels from 6.5 to 7.0.
Much of the discussion on the future of work is focused on globalisation and technology, and their impacts on the labour market. However, there is also a growing interest in the business models used by cooperatives and social enterprises, and how they can contribute to a better future of work.
John Maynard Keynes famously thought that, by now, the primary societal issue would be boredom, due to productivity increasing to a level where we would only need to work 15 hours per week. He was evidently wrong. Despite huge changes in technology and productivity, long working hours are still prevalent.
Eurofound’s Management Board has adopted an ambitious work programme for the organisation for 2020, the last of the current multiannual programme for 2017-2020
The number of people in Poland struggling to make ends meet has halved to 39% since the country’s membership of the EU and the share of people at risk of poverty has decreased to 18.9% in 2018 – below the EU average of 21.7%.
While high-quality childcare and early education is of growing importance, both for children’s development and for facilitating women’s access to the labour market, Eurofound’s research shows that cost is an issue for four out of ten users of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services in the EU.
Economic disparities have been decreasing between EU member states over the past decade, but at the same time inequality has been growing within member states. Despite national level convergence, the gap in wealth and income between the rich and the poor is growing in most of Europe.
The high levels of reliance on informal care across EU Member States - with 15% or more of care being provided on an informal basis in countries such as Belgium, France, Latvia and Romania – comes with significant social and economic costs for both carers and society, including loss of employment, social protection expenditure, social isolation and the healthcare needs of informal carers.
Czechia records the lowest rates of those at risk of poverty and social exclusion across the EU at just 12.2% – considerably below the EU average of 21.7%. The number of people reporting difficulties in making ends meet has also decreased from 52% in 2011 to 40% in 2016 and perceived quality of public services has improved to be in line with EU averages.
Austria has one of the highest female part-time rates in the EU. This is linked largely to a heavy reliance on informal care where 80% of those in need of long-term care are being cared for informally by a family member. The high level of part-time work (47.9% of women compared to just 8.1% of men) has significant consequences for Austria’s gender pay gap.
People in the lowest income groups remain the most likely to report difficulties in accessing primary care services across the European Union, according to Eurofound research. More than 8 out of 10 people in the EU reported using health services in 2016, but many still struggle to access services, including those with incomes just above the threshold that would entitle them to state support.
Just one in three workers in the EU whose daily activities are severely or somewhat limited by a chronic disease report that their workplace has been adapted to accommodate their health problem. This means the majority of workers in Europe with a limiting health condition are not being supported in terms of workplace adaptation.
Contrary to a generalised concern about a ‘crisis of trust’ in the aftermath of the financial crisis, trust in national and EU institutions has bounced back to pre-crisis levels, while civic engagement has increased, and perceived social exclusion has decreased.
