La pandemia de COVID-19 ha tenido un gran impacto en la accesibilidad a la sanidad, la educación y los servicios asistenciales para todos los europeos. También para los niños y niñas, que en muchos países han visto como cerraban sus escuelas y las sustituían por el aprendizaje a distancia. Asimismo, han sufrido las consecuencias de la pandemia que han afectado al acceso de sus familias a los servicios sanitarios y a la salud mental de su entorno familiar. Muchas familias también han experimentado un aumento de la inseguridad en materia de vivienda.
Healthcare providers have been overwhelmed by the demand for COVID-19-related care. Medical appointments and treatments for other conditions have often been delayed, potentially leading to escalating health problems and greater future care needs among those who have missed out. If the pandemic leads to an economic crash, this rise in unmet medical needs could spiral, as happened during the last economic crisis – policymakers should take heed.
The COVID-19 pandemic compelled governments to take exceptional measures to monitor and control the spread of the Coronavirus. Among them was the introduction in most EU Member States of tracking apps to gather data on citizens who have contracted the virus and to trace their contacts, a measure that inevitably traded off privacy protection for effective infection prevention.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the local and regional government (LRG) sector, including social services. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements.
Standard employment is not simply being replaced by non-standard work; employment is becoming more diverse, and policy must accordingly become more tailored. The last decade has seen much public and policy debate on the future of work. Standard employment – permanent, full-time and subject to labour law – is still dominant in Europe, and non-standard work, with the exception of part-time work, has been growing only to a rather limited extent. But it is acknowledged more and more that something is happening in the European labour market that is not transparent from the data, that this is of increasing importance, and that it is influencing the quality of work and employment.
Although standard employment (generally full-time and permanent) remains the dominant employment type across the EU, European labour markets are increasingly characterised by a variety of different forms. These new forms of employment involve new formal employment relationships or work patterns (linked to aspects such as place of work, working time or use of ICT) and sometimes both. This report puts the spotlight on nine innovative employment forms across the 27 EU Member States, Norway and the UK.
The long-term care (LTC) sector employs a growing share of workers in the EU and is experiencing increasing staff shortages. The LTC workforce is mainly female and a relatively large and increasing proportion is aged 50 years or older. Migrants are often concentrated in certain LTC jobs. This report maps the LTC workforce’s working conditions and the nature of employment and role of collective bargaining in the sector.
Como parte de su mandato de promover el diálogo entre los interlocutores sociales, Eurofound ha realizado un seguimiento y un análisis de la evolución de los sistemas de relaciones laborales a escala de la UE y de los Estados miembros de la UE durante más de 40 años. El presente informe de referencia se basa en el trabajo realizado en este contexto durante el último período de programación (2015-2019). Se fundamenta en el amplio seguimiento de los sistemas de relaciones laborales y del diálogo social que lleva a cabo Eurofound de forma permanente.
The decades-long trend of a narrowing gender employment gap in Europe has halted in recent years. Now the COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately affecting low-paying service sectors with a high share of social contact, including many with a majority of female workers, risking forcing them out of the labour market. Do these developments threaten to reverse the progress on gender equality achieved so far?
Cerrar las brechas de género en el mercado laboral logrando la participación igualitaria de las mujeres es uno de los objetivos clave de la nueva Estrategia de Igualdad de Género 2020-2025. A pesar de los considerables avances en la reducción de la brecha de género en el empleo, estas se han estancado en los últimos años. Además, la segregación en el empleo entre sectores y profesiones sigue siendo generalizada.
The European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) has reported on the employment impact of large-scale business restructuring since 2002. This publication series include the ERM reports, as well as blogs, articles and working papers on restructuring-related events in the EU27 and Norway.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the European Working Conditions Telephone Survey (EWCTS) 2021, an extraordinary edition conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
This publication series gathers all overview reports on developments in working life, annual reviews in industrial relations and working conditions produced by Eurofound on the basis of national contributions from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents (NEC). Since 1997, these reports have provided overviews of the latest developments in industrial relations and working conditions across the EU and Norway. The series may include recent ad hoc articles written by members of the NEC.
Eurofound’s work on COVID-19 examines the far-reaching socioeconomic implications of the pandemic across Europe as they continue to impact living and working conditions. A key element of the research is the e-survey, launched in April 2020, with five rounds completed at different stages during 2020, 2021 and 2022. This is complemented by the inclusion of research into the ongoing effects of the pandemic in much of Eurofound’s other areas of work.
Eurofound's representativeness studies are designed to allow the European Commission to identify the ‘management and labour’ whom it must consult under article 154 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This series consists of studies of the representativeness of employer and worker organisations in various sectors.
This series reports on developments in minimum wage rates across the EU, including how they are set and how they have developed over time in nominal and real terms. The series explores where there are statutory minimum wages or collectively agreed minimum wages in the Member States, as well as minimum wage coverage rates by gender.
The European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) launched in 1990 and is carried out every five years, with the latest edition in 2015. It provides an overview of trends in working conditions and quality of employment for the last 30 years. It covers issues such as employment status, working time duration and organisation, work organisation, learning and training, physical and psychosocial risk factors, health and safety, work–life balance, worker participation, earnings and financial security, work and health, and most recently also the future of work.
Eurofound’s Flagship report series 'Challenges and prospects in the EU' comprise research reports that contain the key results of multiannual research activities and incorporate findings from different related research projects. Flagship reports are the major output of each of Eurofound’s strategic areas of intervention and have as their objective to contribute to current policy debates.
Eurofound’s European Company Survey (ECS) maps and analyses company policies and practices which can have an impact on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as the development of social dialogue in companies. This series consists of outputs from the ECS 2019, the fourth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
This series reports on and updates latest information on the involvement of national social partners in policymaking. The series analyses the involvement of national social partners in the implementation of policy reforms within the framework of social dialogue practices, including their involvement in elaborating the National Reform Programmes (NRPs).
Are the policies required to meet the commitments outlined under the EU’s plan for a green transition, the Fit-for-55 package, and the associated budgetary commitments – the Green New Deal – likely to lead to positive or negative employment outcomes by 2030? What types of jobs will be created or destroyed? Will shifts in employment be skewed towards the bottom, middle or top of the job–wage distribution? This report aims to provide answers to these questions, using macro-modelled estimates of the likely impacts of these policies on the structure of employment.
This report explores the potential socio-economic implications of the transition to a climate-neutral economy on different EU regions and groups of people. It adopts a foresight approach to envision potential actions that can be taken to shape the future. After consulting with stakeholders and experts, three scenarios were developed to consider emerging economic and social inequalities at EU and regional level. The report includes policy pointers which outline measures to be taken to achieve a just transition to a sustainable, climate-neutral economy where no one is left behind.
This report explores how environmental performance has converged – or diverged – among the EU Member States since the early 2000s. With environmental goals piling up at the EU level, is it reasonable to expect Member States to adhere to this emerging EU environmental aquis? And, just as importantly, can we expect Member States to reach these goals at the same time? This report attempts to provide answers to these and other questions high on the political agenda.
This report investigates the potential individual and societal impacts of labour market insecurity, focusing on workers with non-permanent contracts, part-time and self-employed workers, and workers who perceive their job as insecure. It explores the impact of labour market insecurities on health and well-being, social exclusion, trust in people and the perception of fairness, as well as trust in institutions. Policies aimed at reducing labour market instability following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic are also presented.
This policy brief provides facts and figures on the working life and job quality of so-called ‘essential workers’ and is based on data from the European Working Conditions Telephone Survey (EWCTS) extraordinary edition 2021. It will define various subgroups of essential workers, describe the challenges they face and outline the type of responses provided, or being developed, to address those challenges.
This policy brief aims to contribute to the effective monitoring and evaluation of the European Child Guarantee. Progress at EU level is measured by a monitoring framework which monitors the key areas of the European Child Guarantee: early childhood education and care; education, including school-based activities and at least one healthy meal each school day; healthcare; healthy nutrition; and adequate housing. The policy brief explores trends and disparities in these areas using a convergence analysis, which tracks any disparities among EU Member States.
This report highlights the prevalence of psychosocial risks across countries, sectors and occupations during the later phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. It outlines the specific working conditions that can lead to work-related health problems. In particular, the report investigates the potential pitfalls related to the expansion of telework, the role of job and income insecurity as a psychosocial risk and the phenomenon of adverse social behaviour and discrimination at work. In addition, it offers policy pointers on tackling the increase in work absenteeism due to mental health problems.
This report – published every two years – covers important developments resulting from legislative reforms in collective bargaining at national or sectoral level in 2021 and 2022. It examines the average weekly working hours set by collective agreements, both across national economies and in five sectors: education, health, transport, retail and public administration.
The urban-rural divide in EU countries has grown in recent years, and the depopulation of certain rural areas in favour of cities is a challenge when it comes to promoting economic development and maintaining social cohesion and convergence. Using data from Eurofound and Eurostat, this report will investigate the trends and drivers of the urban-rural divide, in various dimensions: economic and employment opportunities, access to services, living conditions and quality of life.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the professional football sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the professional football sector in the EU Member States.