EU Member States acted swiftly in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, introducing measures aimed at cushioning the impact of the crisis on society, the economy and the labour market. In some countries, policies targeted businesses and employers directly; elsewhere, employees and self-employed people in sectors negatively affected by lockdowns were given dedicated support first.
A first analysis of working life policies and developments in 2020 shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has in some cases speeded up and in other cases slowed down several policy developments in the EU, Norway and the UK, albeit to varying degrees, and dependent on national contexts. Increased teleworking led to a number of accelerated policy developments to address the new work reality for many employees.
Long-term care (LTC) workforce: employment and working conditions 19 April 2021, European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee virtual meeting Presentation by Hans Dubois, Research Manager, Eurofound
Impact of digitalisation on social services 19 April 2021, European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee virtual meeting Presentation by Tadas Leončikas, Senior Research Manager, Eurofound
V tem poročilu je obravnavan politični razvoj v državah članicah EU, namenjen podpiranju vključevanja invalidov na odprti trg dela, s posebnim poudarkom na treh fazah: zaposlovanje, ohranitev delovnega mesta in vračanje na delo po obdobju odsotnosti. Proučeni so mehanizmi in učinkovitost več kot 150 različnih ukrepov politike, namenjenih obravnavi naslednjih razsežnosti v EU pred pandemijo covida-19: ustvarjanje delovnih mest, ponudba delovne sile, povpraševanje po delovni sili in spremljevalni dejavniki.
Eurofound overview and planned activities for 2021 16 April 2021, European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) virtual meeting Presentation by Maria Jepsen, Acting Executive Director, Eurofound
Despite the economic turmoil that led to large-scale restructuring in many EU Member States and changes in working conditions for many occupational groups, 2020 seems to have been a quiet year in terms of industrial action. At the time of writing this article, national statistics for 2020 are available in only a few countries; however, several correspondents have reported a clear decline in industrial action. The most significant labour disputes related to COVID-19 occurred in the human health and social services sector, the education sector, and the transportation and logistics sector.
V tem poročilu je preučena porazdelitev premoženja med gospodinjstvi v državah članicah EU in analiziran pomen premoženja za družbeno gibljivost. Uporabljeni so podatki iz treh naborov (raziskave o finančnih sredstvih in porabi v gospodinjstvih, raziskave o zdravju, procesu staranja in upokojevanju v Evropi ter študije o premoženju v Luksemburgu), poudarek pa je na premoženju na člana gospodinjstva. V poročilu se primerja sestava premoženja med socialnimi skupinami in državami, ocenjena pa je tudi vloga lastništva stanovanj v porazdelitvi bogastva in negativnem premoženju.
New data from the EU Structure of Earnings Survey (SES) show that, on average, EU Member States paid their social services workers 21% less than the average national hourly earnings in 2018: this compares with 19% less than the average in 2010 and 20% less in 2014. The majority of social services workers (69.3%) work in the long-term care sector.
This publication consists of individual country reports on working life during 2020 for 29 countries – the 27 EU Member States, Norway and the United Kingdom. The country reports summarise first evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on working life based on national research and survey results. They outline the policy responses of governments and social partners in their efforts to cushion the socioeconomic effects and include a focus on policy areas that have been accelerated or disrupted due to the crisis.
Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. This series consists of outputs from the EQLS 2003, the first edition of the survey.
Eurofound's European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. This series consists of outputs from the EQLS 2007, the second edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2003.
Eurofound's European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. This series consists of outputs from the EQLS 2012, the third edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2003.
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 EWCS 2005, the fourth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
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 EWCS 2010, the fifth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
This publication series explores scenarios for the future of manufacturing. The employment implications (number of jobs by sector, occupation, wage profile, and task content) under various possible scenarios are examined. The scenarios focus on various possible developments in global trade and energy policies and technological progress and run to 2030.
Given that compliance with lockdown measures is a first line of defence against COVID-19, maintaining trust in institutions is vital to ensure a coordinated, comprehensive and effective response to the pandemic. This report investigates developments in institutional and interpersonal trust across time, with a particular emphasis on the COVID-19 pandemic period and its impact. It examines the link between trust and discontent and investigates the effect of multidimensional inequalities as a driver of distrust.
This paper provides an analytical summary of state of the art academic and policy literature on the impact of climate change and policies to manage transitions to a carbon neutral economy on employment, working conditions, social dialogue and living conditions. It maps the key empirical findings around the impact of climate change and the green transitions on jobs, sectors, regions and countries in Europe, identifying the opportunities and risks that climate change policies bring to European labour markets.
Between 2021 and 2023 Eurofound is carrying out a pilot project on minimum wage on behalf of the European Commission. The question of how minimum wages and other forms of pay can be fixed for the self-employed is investigated as a part of this project through mapping national and sectoral approaches. Out of concern for the challenging conditions that the self-employed face, some Member States have established or are discussing establishing statutory forms of minimum pay for certain categories of self-employed.
The civil aviation sector has been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of the most severe crises the sector has ever experienced, giving rise to a number of significant challenges for companies and workers alike. This study will explore the role of social dialogue and collective bargaining in how the sector is adapting to the pandemic. What kinds of changes have been introduced, either through social dialogue or collective bargaining? Are the changes temporary or permanent?
Lockdown measures and the economic shift following the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a widening of the gender divide between men and women, putting at risk some of the gender equality gains that had been made in previous years. This report analyses changes in the distribution of paid and unpaid work, along with care and domestic responsibilities, among men and women during the crisis. It also explores the impact of the pandemic on the well-being of women and men.
The report provides an overview of the scale of teleworking before and during the COVID-19 crisis and gives an indication of ‘teleworkability’ across sectors and occupations. Building on previous Eurofound research on remote work, the report investigates the way businesses introduced and supported teleworking during the pandemic, as well as the experience of workers who were working from home during the crisis. The report also looks at developments in regulations related to telework in Member States and provides a review of stakeholders’ positions.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have varied across sectors, occupations and categories of worker (for instance, according to gender, age or employment status). Hours worked have declined the most in sectors such as accommodation services and food and beverage services, and in occupations heavily reliant on in-person interaction, such as sales work. At the same time, it’s in these sectors that labour shortages have become increasingly evident as labour markets have begun to normalise.
The COVID-19 crisis has increased inequality between social groups in health, housing, employment, income and well-being. While a small part of society was able to hold on to or increase its wealth, other groups such as women, young people, older people, people with disabilities, low- and middle-income earners and those with young children were acutely affected by the pandemic. Drawing on current research on how to best measure multidimensional inequality, this report highlights recent trends in inequality in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.
This report analyses the working lives of workers in Europe in 2021, when the continent was still in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines working conditions during that period and the association between job quality and work outcomes such as health and well-being, work–life balance, and financial security. The report also considers how the shifts in working life during the pandemic are likely to affect work in the future.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in European sectoral social dialogue taking place at cross-sectoral level. 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 at cross-sectoral level in the EU Member States.
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