Undeclared work
Beyond national variations, at European level undeclared work involves ‘any paid activities that are lawful as regards their nature but not declared to public authorities’. Common types include work carried out in a formal undertaking, which is partially or fully undeclared, and undeclared ‘own account’ or self-employed work.
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25 March 2025
The scale of undeclared care work (paid care work that is lawful but not declared to public authorities) in the EU is considerable. Recent estimates suggest that 6.8 million undeclared workers provide care or household services across the EU, with 2.1 million specifically in the care sector. Undeclared care workers are predominantly women and often are migrants. They have poor working conditions and limited social protection and are at a heightened risk of exploitation.
This report examines undeclared care work in the EU, its characteristics and the challenges faced by people working in this sector. It briefly describes the complex drivers of undeclared care work and presents a range of policy responses implemented across the EU to tackle it. The findings underscore the need for a comprehensive policy framework that not only addresses immediate enforcement challenges but also tackles structural barriers to formalisation while ensuring good working conditions and social protection for care workers
26 February 2021
This flagship report summarises the key findings of Eurofound’s research on working conditions conducted over the programming period 2017–2020. It maps the progress achieved since 2000 in improving working conditions and examines whether all workers have benefited equally from positive change. It highlights which groups are the most at risk of experiencing poor working conditions and being left behind. Given the changes in the world of work, emerging challenges for good job quality are identified. The report also provides evidence for measures that could lead to the further improvement of work and the achievement of fair working conditions for all in the EU. The analysis shows that, overall, job quality in the EU is improving, if slowly. Not all workers are benefiting to the same extent, however. Furthermore, gender, age and contractual status have a significant bearing on a person’s working conditions. And while digitalisation helps to address some job quality issues, it also creates new challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated trends, reinforcing concerns and highlighting the importance of achieving job quality for all.
20 January 2020
The debate about the posting of workers in the EU, its economic and social consequences, and ways to manage it is hampered by the fact that reliable, comparable data on the phenomenon are lacking. Accurate statistics on the number of posted workers, their characteristics and working conditions are simply not available. This report maps existing information sources at the European and Member State levels, and identifies the gaps in, and the limitations of, data currently available. The report outlines what kind of data would need to be collected to allow for a better monitoring of the situation of posted workers across Europe, as well as how this information could be collected and what kind of analysis would be possible based on these improved data sources.
Highlights for Undeclared work
This is a selection of the most important outputs for this topic.
26 February 2021
Working conditions and sustainable work: An analysis using the job quality framework
This flagship report summarises the key findings of Eurofound’s research on working conditions conducted over the programming period 2017–2020. It maps the progress achieved since 2000 in improving working conditions and examines whether all workers have benefited equally from positive change. It highlights which groups are the most at risk of experiencing poor working conditions and being left behind. Given the changes in the world of work, emerging challenges for good job quality are identified. The report also provides evidence for measures that could lead to the further improvement of work and the achievement of fair working conditions for all in the EU. The analysis shows that, overall, job quality in the EU is improving, if slowly. Not all workers are benefiting to the same extent, however. Furthermore, gender, age and contractual status have a significant bearing on a person’s working conditions. And while digitalisation helps to address some job quality issues, it also creates new challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated trends, reinforcing concerns and highlighting the importance of achieving job quality for all.
11 May 2020
All aboard: Hauling undeclared workers onto the pandemic rescue boats
20 January 2020
Improving the monitoring of posted workers in the EU
The debate about the posting of workers in the EU, its economic and social consequences, and ways to manage it is hampered by the fact that reliable, comparable data on the phenomenon are lacking. Accurate statistics on the number of posted workers, their characteristics and working conditions are simply not available. This report maps existing information sources at the European and Member State levels, and identifies the gaps in, and the limitations of, data currently available. The report outlines what kind of data would need to be collected to allow for a better monitoring of the situation of posted workers across Europe, as well as how this information could be collected and what kind of analysis would be possible based on these improved data sources.
12 March 2015
New forms of employment
Across Europe, new forms of employment are emerging that are different from traditional standard or non-standard employment in a number of ways. Some transform the relationship between employer and employee, some change work organisation and work patterns, and some do both. This report identifies nine forms of employment that are new or have become increasingly important in Europe since the year 2000. While there is wide diversity in terms of their characteristics and employment relationship, all the forms aim to increase flexibility for employers and/or employees. Although some have the potential to benefit employers and employees equally, in a few cases concerns have been raised about their impact on working conditions and the labour market. The report concludes with recommendations about the need to raise awareness of the potential problems and establish safety nets for workers.
9 June 2013
Tackling undeclared work in Croatia and four EU candidate countries
The aim of this report is to provide a systematic overview of the extent and nature of undeclared work, and how it is being tackled, in Croatia and four EU candidate countries: Iceland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey. The objectives are to analyse the magnitude and character of undeclared work in these countries, to show how the fight against undeclared work is organised and to outline the relevant policy approaches and measures that these countries are adopting. Throughout the report, the five countries are compared with the 27 EU Member States (EU27) where feasible.
9 June 2013
Tackling undeclared work in 27 EU Member States and Norway: Approaches and measures since 2008
Since the publication of previous reports on how undeclared work is being tackled in the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU27) and Norway (Eurofound, 2008, 2009), the ongoing recession took hold. The aim of this report is to provide an updated overview of the policy approaches and measures that have been implemented to tackle undeclared work since the beginning of the recession in 2008. The first important finding of this synthesis report is that many new policy measures are being pursued in Member States of the EU27 and Norway that are transferable to other sectors and countries. If the accompanying knowledge bank is used by Member States to identify new possibilities for policy initiatives, so as to expand their existing repertoire, an important objective will be achieved. This report provides pointers of potentially good practice policy measures that Member States might wish to further consider.
Experts on Undeclared work
Researchers at Eurofound provide expert insights and can be contacted for questions or media requests.
Marianna Baggio
Research officerMarianna Baggio is a research officer in the Social Policies unit at Eurofound, working on aspects of the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS), as well as on the topics of gender pay transparency and informal care. Prior to joining Eurofound, she served as a policy analyst at the Competence Centre for Behavioural Insights of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. She has worked as a postdoc at the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele (Milan) and the University of Trento. She also brings extensive experience from a previous role as corporate social responsibility (CSR) officer in South Africa. Marianna holds a PhD in Economics and Management from the University of Trento, specialising in behavioural economics.
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