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Topics: Family issues

  • Addressing the employment and social consequences of mobility and migration

    Eurofound has been doing extensive work on the issues of mobility and migration. This blog gives a brief overview of the different aspects of EU mobile workers, posted workers and third-country migration, as well as a preview of our upcoming research.
    Free movement in the EU
    All citizens of EU Member States are entitled to live, work and study in another Member State. The right to free movem

  • Working time clashes with work–life balance for many workers

    ​Despite increasing sophistication of work organisation and the development of ICT tools with the aim of making the workplace more efficient, long working time continues to be a fact of life for many workers, according to the last findings on working conditions in Europe from Eurofound. To download the report go to http://bit.ly/Resume6EWCS.

  • Developments in working life annual review shows a Europe in flux

    The Developments in Working Life in Europe 2014 annual review, which is part of a series of annual reviews published by Eurofound, shows that Europe is undergoing significant changes in terms of its economy, industrial relations and working conditions. Although progress is being made in all three areas, the enduring economic crisis has made this progress both fragile and unequal.

  • Celebrating 40 years of contributing to Social Europe

    This year marks 40 years for the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), the Dublin-based EU Agency charged with providing knowledge in the area of social and work-related policies.

  • Take-up rate of parental and paternity leave remains low across Europe

    The take-up rate of parental and paternity leave among fathers has been increasing in most Member States but it still remains relatively low. Covering all the EU Member States and Norway, this report looks at the most recent trends in terms of take-up of parental and paternity leave, existing provisions and factors influencing take-up rates.

  • ​Eurofound’s 2015 Annual Work Programme

    Eurofound’s 2015 work programme outlines a dual challenge for the European Union and the Member States: finding a way out of the crisis while pursuing the mid-term ambition of achieving progress towards a competitive and fair Europe. Although the financial situation in Europe seems to have stabilised, the recovery is still very modest and needs to be consolidated.

  • Crisis has affected supply and demand in healthcare

    In the wake of the economic and financial crisis, many European governments have cut spending on healthcare services. A new report from Eurofound identifies the groups most likely to face barriers to healthcare as a consequence of the crisis, including a number of new groups that have been generally overlooked by policymakers.

  • Levels of work-related stress, and violence and harassment, are still high in European workplaces

    A new report out today gives a broad overview on psychosocial risks at European workplaces and provides examples on the way forward at political as well as company level. The report is presented today to national labour inspectors and practitioners from several southern European countries in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and to EU-level policymakers in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday 16 October 2014.

  • Europe is struggling to deliver improved living and working conditions for all

    Eurofound’s fifth annual yearbook, Living and working in Europe, based on the Agency’s research from 2013, describes developments in the EU in the wake of the crisis, focusing on major topic areas including changes in labour markets and employment, efforts to tackle youth unemployment, innovation in workplaces and public trust in institutions.

  • Working time and annual holidays divide Europe

    The average collectively agreed weekly working time in the European Union stood at 38.1 hours in 2013, according to Eurofound’s latest working time update. The combined total of agreed annual leave and public holidays in the EU varied from 40 days in Germany and France to 29 days in Belgium - a difference of more than two working weeks. The Working Time Developments in Europe 2013 report is out.

  • Social dialogue as a driver in shaping and improving employment and working conditions in the EU

    In cooperation with the Greek Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Eurofound is organising a high-level conference Social Dialogue as a driver in shaping and improving employment and working conditions in the EU in Athens on Monday 23 June 2014. Keynote speakers include Nobel Price winner Sir Christopher Pissarides and Ioannis Vroutsis, Minister of Labour, Social Security and Welfare.

  • Work preferences after 50

    Part-time work facilitates a better work–life balance – particularly, it seems, for people aged 50+. Among people aged 50+, both in and out of employment, there is a preference for more part-time options. Today we launch our new Foundation Findings - 3EQLS Policy Brief - on Work preferences after 50.

  • Purchasing power of EU workers rising, despite limited collectively agreed pay increases

    Nominal collectively agreed pay increases remained limited in the majority of EU Member States in 2013. However, because of lower inflation rates, employees in a number of European countries saw the purchasing power of their wages increase, reflecting a change from the post-crisis trend that had been observed since 2011. Eurofound’s annual update on pay is out.

  • Families feeling the brunt of increasing social inequalities in Europe

    Eurofound publishes a report which looks at families in the economic crisis, and outlines relevant kinds of policies and services that can best protect families from the risks of poverty and social exclusion, in such areas as social protection benefits, housing, childcare and healthcare. The findings are presented at a Greek EU Presidency conference in Athens, Greece, today 29 April.

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