Today, 24 February 2023, marks one year since Russian forces began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, starting a war of aggression that has spread death and destruction. It also marks one year of resolute Ukrainian resistance.
Ireland’s economic and social transformation since it joined the European Economic Community 50 years ago is a positive reflection on the Irish people, as well as the EU, and European cooperation.
With inflation expected to persist, a further depreciation of minimum wages in real terms can be expected in most Member States, as only a few foresee additional increases in 2023.
Despite nominal increases in statutory minimum wages reaching an all-time high between January 2022 and January 2023, minimum wage workers in most EU countries are seeing their purchasing power decline or just about compensated, based on preliminary inflation figures.
The rising cost of living is the most pressing worry for 93% of Europeans, followed by the threat of poverty and social exclusion, according to a recent European Parliament Eurobarometer survey.
41.7 million people teleworked across the EU in 2021, double the number of 2019, as COVID-19 restrictions and changes in work culture significantly impacted work organisation.
The new factsheet on Living, working and COVID-19 in the European Union and 10 EU neighbouring countries presents a selection of results from the fifth round of Eurofound’s e-survey which extended to 10 neighbouring countries for the first time.
Stefania Rossi has been elected Chair of Eurofound’s Management Board at the Agency’s annual Management Board meeting in Dublin on 18 November. The annual gathering of representatives from governments, employer organisations and trade unions in all EU 27 Member States, and the European Commission and the European Parliament, also approved Eurofound’s work programme for 2023.
The new episode of Eurofound Talks looks in-depth at care: care for children, care for older people, care for those who are frail or with disabilities, access to care, the quality of care, and the working conditions of care workers.
The impact of the COVID-19 crisis has deepened the traditional gender divides across many areas including the labour market, working conditions, work-life conflict and overall working time, according to findings from Eurofound’s latest research report; COVID-19 pandemic and the gender divide at work and home.
Eurofound research has demonstrated that existing initiatives often fail to provide both platform workers and platform companies with the regulatory predictability and legal certainty needed for ensuring good working conditions and a level playing field.
Platform work is on the rise across Europe, bringing new pressures to bear on working conditions and labour markets and putting a spotlight on the wide-ranging individual risks. Who are these workers, what do they do and how can we ensure they are protected while we grow this new form of employment? This is the focus of the latest episode of Eurofound Talks.
For the first time, the five EU Agencies came together to highlight their insights and explore the challenges and opportunities of young people in times of uncertainty at an event with the EMPL Committee in the European Parliament on 8 September.
Rising energy prices are putting more people under increased financial pressure and at a greater risk of energy poverty, according to Eurofound report 'Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey: Living in a new era of uncertainty'
Trust in national institutions has declined across the EU over the past two years. Driven by increasingly difficult economic circumstances and unreliable news sources, even people who previously expressed higher trust levels – such as those in financially secure positions – have become less trusting. We take a closer look at e-survey data to explore this decline in trust.
Living and working in an era of disruption in one of the first public presentations of the results of Eurofound’s unique online Living and working survey which tracked the experiences of Europeans over the last two years - a period which saw a global pandemic, seismic shifts in the world of work, rising costs of living and now the war in Ukraine.
Recorded trust in institutions such as national governments, the EU, the police and news media has declined across the EU over the past two years, with those who previously expressed higher trust levels, such as those in financially secure positions, now becoming less trusting.
Eurofound’s Executive Director, Ivailo Kalfin, and Deputy Director, Maria Jepsen, met with President Michael D Higgins this morning to discuss latest research on issues such as trust, housing, youth, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on society in Europe.
Against the background of inflation affecting European countries, minimum wage workers in 15 out of 21 Member States with statutory minimum wages registered a decline in their wages in real terms between 1 January 2021 and 1 January 2022. This was despite comparatively large increases in nominal rates in the EU during the period.
Over 70% of people surveyed in the EU agree with the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia, with two-thirds feeling that more stringent sanctions should be imposed. Support for economic sanctions is particularly high in Scandinavian countries, the Baltic states, Romania, Poland and Ireland.
