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Topics: European Union issues

  • Pay inequalities come back into focus in post-crisis Europe

    Friday 3 November is European Equal Pay Day. In the following blog piece Christine Aumayr-Pintar looks at the issue of pay inequality, contending that far from being a fair weather issue, addressing pay gaps should be an ongoing priority for Europe.

  • Rethinking working time in Europe

    Working time is more than just clocking in and clocking out. ​In this blog piece, originally published in ​Social Europe, Jorge Cabrita looks at three reasons why working time in Europe should follow a life course perspective.

  • The many faces of self-employment in Europe

    ​In this new blog piece Mathijn Wilkens looks at the multi-faceted nature of self-employment in Europe – from the entrepreneurial independent self-employed, to those that find themselves in a more vulnerable position.

  • New-generation cars boost manufacturing employment

    Manufacturing is on the up in Europe. The latest data shows that, for the first time since 2005, the number of new manufacturing jobs announced in national media outstripped the number of announced job losses. In this blog piece Andrea Broughton and John Hurley take a closer look at the resurgence of the sector.

  • More attention must be given to Europe’s working poor

    ​In this blog piece, originally published in ​Social Europe, Eurofound Research Manager Daphne Nathalie Ahrendt looks at the increase in the number of workers that are at risk of poverty and are materially deprived following the 2008 economic and financial crisis, and evaluates the potential social ramifications for Europe.

  • Publication alert: Exploring self-employment in the European Union

    In the rapidly changing world of work, the traditional dichotomy of employee and self-employed is insufficient to capture the wide diversity of self-employed workers in Europe today. This report identifies five categories of self-employed, reflecting the wide-ranging attitudes, income levels, and health and well-being among this diverse group.

  • Annual review shows working life in Europe in transition

    Working life in Europe is in a period of transition. Economic growth has picked up, employment continues to grow for the third consecutive year and unemployment rates – while still being above the level of 2007 in the EU28 - are generally in decline. However, Brexit and pay inequality present challenges for the future.

  • Four out of five workers in Europe happy with working time ‘fit’

    81% of workers say their working hours fit well, or very well, with their private life obligations. However men continue to have longer working hours (on average 6.5 hours per week more than women) and report more difficulties adapting working time to family life or other commitments.

  • Increasing numbers of working poor in post-crisis Europe

    One in ten workers in the EU is at risk of poverty, and 13% of workers are materially deprived and cannot afford basic household goods. Despite the fact that levels of in-work poverty have increased in Europe during the financial crisis, most Member States do not specifically address in-work poverty.

  • World Day against Trafficking in Persons

    On the occasion of World Day against Trafficking in Persons we invite you to download or order our publication on Regulation of labour market intermediaries and the role of social partners in preventing trafficking of labour.

  • Estimating labour market slack in the European Union

    Labour market slack is the shortfall between the volume of work desired by workers and the actual volume of work available. The aim of this report is to develop a more nuanced estimate of labour slack using EU Labour Force Survey data, which allows involuntary part-timers and inactive people with some labour market attachment to be identified and quantified.

  • Aspects of non-standard employment in Europe

    This report examines developments in non-standard employment – temporary, temporary agency and part-time work and self-employment – over the last decade. It shows that the significant increase in the temporary employment rate between the late 1980s and the early 2000s has been halted and replaced by a slight decline from 14.5% in 2006 to 14.2% in 2016.

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