A Belgian think tank report examined trends in poverty and social exclusion in Europe. It said that trend analysis depended on the type of measure and timeframe used, but earlier trends for convergence in poverty levels had been reversed by the economic crisis, affecting some of the poorest member states and vulnerable groups the most. It discussed household living arrangements, the impact of using a European Union-wide poverty measure, and the role of income inequality.
Source: Tim Goedeme and Bea Cantillon (eds.), Recent Trends in Poverty and Inequality in Europe: Facts and figures, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Dec
A report examined findings on household overindebtedness from the European Quality of Life Survey. It said that housing-related debt (rent, mortgage and utility payment arrears) had increased in the study period, causing decreased housing security. The report also examined the role of informal debt in the overall coping strategies of households.
Source: Household Over-indebtedness in the EU: The role of informal debts, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Links: Report | Eurofound press release
Date: 2013-Nov
A report examined data from the European Quality of Life Survey on social inequalities and the distribution of freedoms and opportunities. It looked at health, standard of living, productive and valued activities, and individual, family and social life. It assessed the role of gender, age, disability status, employment status, and citizenship status, as well as other drivers of inequality. The report said that there was some evidence that disadvantages were now more prevalent, and that social inequalities had widened between 2007 and 2011. The report made recommendations for addressing social inequalities by integrating well-being into policy at state and European levels.
Source: Ellie Suh, Tiffany Tsang, Polly Vizard, Asghar Zaidi, and Tania Burchardt, Quality of Life in Europe: Social inequalities, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Links: Report | Eurofound press release
Date: 2013-Nov
A report examined the the humanitarian impact of the economic crisis in Europe and highlighted the consequences at community and grassroots level. It reported a growing number of people living below the poverty line and needing assistance, as well as an increase in the intensity of poverty, and a widening gap between the rich and the poor. Some National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also reported the rise of a group of 'working poor', who were becoming more vulnerable because of fiscal erosion or having jobs with no social security.
Source: Think Differently: Humanitarian impacts of the economic crisis in Europe, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Oct
Researchers examined the reallocation of resources across age and gender in a comparative European setting. The research studied gender differences in the generation of income, and extended the analysis by unpaid household work, finding large cross-country differences in the age- and gender-specific levels and type of production activities, and consequently in the organization of the resource reallocation across age. The paper recommended that reform of the welfare system needed to take into account private transfers, in particular services produced within the households for their own consumption.
Source: Bernhard Hammer, Alexia Prskawetz, and Inga Freund, Reallocation of Resources Across Age in a Comparative European Setting, Working Paper 13, WWW for Europe
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Oct
An article examined whether and how welfare generosity in European countries was related to the risk of social exclusion associated with combinations of poor health, low education, and economic inactivity. No indications were found of higher levels of non-participation among disadvantaged groups in more generous welfare states. On the contrary, resources made available by the welfare state seemed to matter to all individuals in terms of overall lower levels of non-participation. This demonstrated the importance of linking health-related social exclusion to the social policy context.
Source: Therese Saltkjel, Espen Dahl, and Kjetil van der Wel, 'Health related social exclusion in Europe: a multilevel study of the role of welfare generosity', International Journal for Equity in Health, Volume 12
Date: 2013-Sep
An assessment of the 2013 'national reform programmes' submitted to the European Commission by European Union states found that the EU was falling short on its promises on constructing a 'Social Europe'. Poverty had risen by 4 million over the previous year, despite a target to reduce it by 20 million by 2020. The economic crisis was having a worsening social impact, exacerbated by austerity measures, with unemployment, poverty, and inequalities reaching untenably high levels.
Source: Widening the Gap: EAPN assessment of the National Reform Programmes 2013, European Anti-Poverty Network
Links: Report | EAPN press release
Date: 2013-Sep
A paper examined an alternative 13-item indicator of material deprivation in European Union countries (compared with the existing 9-item indicator). It considered its potential impact on the size of the population deemed to be deprived, on the socio-demographic characteristics of this population, and on the Europe 2020 social inclusion target.
Source: Anne-Catherine Guio and Eric Marlier, Alternative vs. Current Measures of Material Deprivation at EU Level: What differences does it make?, ImPRovE Discussion Paper 13/07, Centre for Social Policy (Antwerp University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Sep
A study examined the institutional diversity of minimum wage systems within the European Union. It said that the policy debate should be framed as a choice between alternative systems, rather than as a choice of any particular rate for Europe as a whole. A combination of sectoral minimum rates and high levels of collective bargaining coverage could, at least for certain outcomes, be regarded as constituting a functional equivalent to a binding statutory minimum wage at the national level.
Source: Stephan Kampelmann, Andrea Garnero, and Francois Rycx, Minimum Wages in Europe: Does the diversity of systems lead to a diversity of outcomes?, Research Report 128, European Trade Union Institute
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Sep
A paper examined the distributive impact of economic globalization, technological progress, and changes in labour market policies/regulations/institutions in developed (OECD) countries. Technological progress was a key driver behind the upward trend of earnings inequality, transmitted mainly through raising wage dispersion. Globalization effects appeared to be neutral overall. Regulatory reforms that aimed at promoting growth and productivity appeared to exert contrasting effects: they tended to close the gap between employed and non-employed groups by increasing job opportunities, but at the same time also contributed to greater wage inequality. Finally, the growth in the supply of skilled workers was an important equalizing factor contributing not only to reduce wage dispersion among workers but also to higher employment rates.
Source: Wen-Hao Chen, Michael Forster, and Ana Llena-Nozal, Globalisation, Technological Progress and Changes in Regulations and Institutions: Which Impact on the Rise of Earnings Inequality in OECD Countries?, Working Paper 597, Luxembourg Income Study
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Sep
A paper provided a critical assessment of the indicator that had been developed to measure the relative number of people in Europe living in households with low, or very low, work intensity.
Source: Terry Ward and Erhan Ozdemir, Measuring Low Work Intensity – An Analysis of the Indicator, ImPRovE Discussion Paper 13/09, Centre for Social Policy (Antwerp University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Sep
A paper examined the convergence and divergence of European minimum income schemes in recent decades. Despite a marked increase in the spread of minimum income schemes, cross-country variation in the level of minimum income benefits had remained markedly stable. But this hid starkly different country experiences, with some laggard countries showing marked increases, whereas others continued to fall short. Some of these pre-crisis gains had evaporated in recent years. In addition, a substantial number of countries had allowed a further erosion of their benefit levels – especially in the 1990s, but also in the 2000s.
Source: Natascha Van Mechelen and Sarah Marchal, Trends and Convergence of Europe's Minimum Income Schemes, ImPRovE Discussion Paper 13/11, Centre for Social Policy (Antwerp University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Sep
A report said that austerity policies were leading to a massive increase in poverty and inequality in European countries, causing damage that would take two decades or more to reverse. It said that 25 million more people could be pushed into poverty in Europe by 2020, including 800,000 children and 1.9 million adults in the United Kingdom.
Source: Teresa Cavero and Krisnah Poinasamy, A Cautionary Tale: The true cost of austerity and inequality in Europe, Oxfam GB
Links: Report | Oxfam press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Sep
An article sought to contribute to the debate on the 'dependent variable problem' in comparative welfare state analysis, by focusing on 'benefit recipiency' as a hitherto largely neglected type of indicator for understanding cross-national and longitudinal variation between welfare states. It used data for the European Union countries to calculate and compare rates of access to a series of benefits among working-age populations, as well as the relative amounts of benefits received. The main conclusion was that benefit recipiency data were a promising source for comparative welfare state analysis. However, like other data sources, they were not without problems, and more work needed to be done to assess their value, relative to more commonly used indicators.
Source: Wim Van Oorschot, 'Comparative welfare state analysis with survey-based benefit recipiency data: the "dependent variable problem" revisited', European Journal of Social Security, 2013 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Sep
A paper examined the effects of the inclusion of past experiences in measuring current material deprivation in European Union countries. Following the path of material deprivation experienced by each individual over time yielded a picture that differed from that in the annual results. Countries should not only be compared based on their year-by-year results: additional information was gained by following individuals over time and producing an aggregate measure once time was taken into account.
Source: Conchita D Ambrosio, The Indicators of Intertemporal Material Deprivation: A proposal and an application to EU countries, ImPRovE Discussion Paper 13/08, Centre for Social Policy (Antwerp University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Sep
An article examined the potential contribution of disabled people to the attainment of the Europe 2020 strategy targets. It said that improving the socio-economic situation of the disabled population could be crucial for attaining the targets. However, future policy designs at national level would need to take into account the actual definition of disability that was employed, the heterogeneity of circumstances to be found within such a definition, and the gap between the situation of the disabled and non-disabled populations.
Source: Alvaro Choi and Jorge Calero, 'The contribution of the population of disabled people to the attainment of Europe 2020 strategy headline targets', Disability & Society, Volume 28 Number 6
Links: Abstract
See also: Alvaro Choi and Jorge Calero, The Contribution of the Disabled to the Attainment of the Europe 2020 Strategy Headline Targets, Working Paper 2012/16, Barcelona Institute of Economics
Date: 2013-Sep
A paper examined the link between part-time work and poverty in European Union countries. The extent to which part-time work was associated with poverty varied considerably, far more so than for full-time workers. Involuntary part-time work clearly stood out as most problematic, although an increased poverty risk was not confined to it. Part-time work was most problematic where it was an inferior choice from the perspective of preferred working hours, earnings, and employment security. Moreover, part-timers sometimes faced a 'double income penalty', in that they were more likely to have lower earnings and reduced eligibility for certain social transfers – though in some countries the reverse was the case.
Source: Jeroen Horemans and Ive Marx, In-Work Poverty in Times of Crisis: Do part-timers fare worse?, ImPRovE Discussion Paper 13/14, Centre for Social Policy (Antwerp University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Sep
A report examined the extent to which child poverty and social exclusion featured in the 2013 National Reform Programmes (NRPs) of European Union member states. Overall the NRPs showed some modest improvements compared with the previous year: but the attention given to tackling child poverty and social exclusion still fell far short of what was necessary to achieve the Europe 2020 goal on reducing poverty and social exclusion, and to respond to the severe and growing impact of the economic crisis and austerity measures.
Source: Hugh Frazer, The 2013 National Reform Programmes (NRP) from a Child Poverty and Well-Being Perspective, Eurochild
Links: Report | Eurochild press release
Date: 2013-Sep
A paper examined tax policies in developed (OECD) countries in the aftermath of the global economic crisis.
Source: Pierre LeBlan, Stephen Matthews, and Kirsti Mellbye, The Tax Policy Landscape Five Years after the Crisis, Taxation Working Paper 17, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Sep
An article examined the appropriateness of a public or private orientation of pension systems in the light of the global financial crisis. It compared the British and French pension systems, as 'archetypes' of private-oriented and public-oriented systems, respectively. Both systems had strengthened the role played by means-tested benefits and minimum pensions for low-income groups, in order to offset weaknesses emphasized by the crisis.
Source: Christine Lagoutte and Anne Reimat, 'Public or private orientation of pension systems in the light of the recent financial crisis', Review of Social Economy, Volume 71 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined whether recent changes in family structure and female employment patterns had altered the distribution of income in some western countries. Increased female employment was found to reduce income inequality: but an increased prevalence of single-mother families heightened income inequality.
Source: Christopher Kollmeyer, 'Family structure, female employment, and national income inequality: a cross-national study of 16 western countries', European Sociological Review, Volume 29 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined whether there was an empirical relationship between income inequality and social cohesion in developed countries. The relationship was found to be problematic, with significant associations for some dimensions but not for others. Further, the relationship between social cohesion and inequality was dependent on the measure of inequality used, whether other variables were controlled for, and the number of countries in the sample.
Source: Daniel Sage, 'Are more equal societies the most cohesive?', International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Volume 33 Issue 11-12
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined the links between family background and offspring achievements (education, labour market achievements, and earnings) in eight European Union countries – Germany, France, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark, and Finland. In all the countries, the association between family background and education was positive, strong, and significant: but for other outcomes the associations were more variable.
Source: Maurizio Franzini, Michele Raitano, and Francesco Vona, 'The channels of intergenerational transmission of inequality: a cross-country comparison', Rivista Italiana degli Economisti, Volume 18 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined the 'feminization' of poverty in 12 welfare states (including the United Kingdom) between the 1980s and the 2000s. Although the feminization of poverty had been slowed down and even reversed in certain cases, cross-regime differences had become increasingly visible. A new measurement of poverty would be required to capture the multi-dimensional features of the feminization of poverty, including human capital.
Source: Jin Wook Kim and Young Jun Choi, 'Feminisation of poverty in 12 welfare states: consolidating cross-regime variations?', International Journal of Social Welfare, Volume 22 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined cross-national differences in Europe in attitudes towards: cuts in old-age pension benefits; increases in social security contributions; and increases in the statutory retirement age. In countries with higher statutory retirement ages, people were more likely to support a postponement of retirement. But in countries with higher poverty among older people, they were less likely to support cuts in pension benefits. In countries with higher social security contributions, people were less likely to support further increases in these contributions.
Source: Juan Fernandez and Antonio Jaime-Castillo, 'Positive or negative policy feedbacks? Explaining popular attitudes towards pragmatic pension policy reforms', European Sociological Review, Volume 29 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined the 'social investment' perspective in European social policy-making, focusing on social inclusion through work, individual responsibility, and human capital investment. It said that the social investment perspective had some serious flaws in respect of the social protection of vulnerable groups. This was strongly related to the continuing relevance of social class in explaining and remedying social inequalities. Investment could not be the only rationale for welfare state intervention, and protecting people should remain equally high on the policy agenda.
Source: Bea Cantillon and Wim Van Lancker, 'Three shortcomings of the social investment perspective', Social Policy and Society, Volume 12 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
A report said that analyzing future demographic trends could help policy-makers to implement Europe's poverty strategy for 2020. The sections of the population most at risk of poverty that were also likely to grow in size included elderly people, migrants, and single heads of households. An increasingly ageing population would require continuing reform of pensions systems, healthcare systems, and labour markets. Predicted future demand for highly skilled individuals and declining demand for low-skilled workers might widen the earnings gap between low- and high-income households. The predicted rise in the immigrant population could present significant challenges for social mobility and labour market integration policies.
Source: Benoit Guerin, Demography and Inequality: How Europe's changing population will impact on income inequality, RAND Corporation
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Aug
A new book examined key sociological concepts and theory in relation to European crises, identity, inequality, and social order.
Source: Marinus Ossewaarde, Theorizing European Societies, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Aug
A report presented standard error estimates for the Europe 2020 indicator of poverty or social exclusion, and for the persistent at-risk-of-poverty rate.
Source: Guillaume Osier, Yves Berger, and Tim Goedeme, Standard Error Estimation for the EU-SILC Indicators of Poverty and Social Exclusion: 2013 Edition, Eurostat (European Union)
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Aug
A paper examined determinants of individual support for the welfare state in European and other developed countries. It was found that people who interpreted their lifecourse as being not at their own disposition reported a substantially more positive attitude toward income equalization and government interventions. A higher quality of public administration and low confidence in major private companies amplified preferences for redistribution and intervention. Social trust was generally associated with higher support for redistribution and government intervention only if the perceived quality of administration was high, and confidence in companies low. People who identified themselves as religious were less favourable toward income equalization.
Source: Hans Pitlik and Ludek Kouba, The Interrelation of Informal Institutions and Governance Quality in Shaping Welfare State Attitudes, Working Paper 38, WWWforEurope Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Aug
A paper examined how inter-generational income mobility in developed countries responded to structural changes in a simple theoretical model of inter-generational transmission, deviating from the existing literature by explicitly analyzing the transition path between steady states. It was found that mobility depended not only on existing but also on past transmission mechanisms, such that changing policies, institutions, or economic conditions might generate long-lasting trends. Declining mobility might not reflect a recent deterioration of equality of opportunity but rather major improvements made in the past.
Source: Martin Nybom and Jan Stuhler, Interpreting Trends in Intergenerational Income Mobility, Discussion Paper 7514, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Aug
A paper examined how the distribution of income in three European countries (Belgium, Greece, and the United Kingdom) changed when the standard definition of disposable income was replaced by an extended income concept that took into account indirect taxes, imputed rent, and in-kind benefits. The overall redistributive effect of tax-benefit systems was found to depend heavily on the income concept considered; and the differences across countries were smaller when considering the extended income distribution. The common use of a narrower income concept, such as disposable income, could lead to the overestimation of the redistributive effect of the cash tax-benefit instruments.
Source: Francesco Figari and Alari Paulus, The Distributional Effects of Taxes and Transfers under Alternative Income Concepts: The importance of three I's, EUROMOD Working Paper EM15/13, Institute for Social and Economic Research (University of Essex)
Links: Working paper | Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined findings from a knowledge exchange review of financial inclusion in Britain, and compared these with key features of financial exclusion evident from European analyses. The research identified agreement among British stakeholders over several aspects of financial exclusion, in particular continuing problems of access to mainstream banking services for low-income customers and a lack of appropriate and affordable credit provision. Areas of controversy included whether banks denied services to lower-income customers or were withdrawing from deprived communities, and the necessity for further regulation of mainstream financial services. Comparison with research from other European countries raised questions about how financial inclusion should be defined, and whether existing indicators capture this adequately across contrasting social, institutional, and regulatory contexts.
Source: Stephen Sinclair, 'Financial inclusion and social financialisation: Britain in a European context', International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Volume 33 Issue 11-12
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
An article said that the welfare state was one of the hallmarks of a civilized society. It depended on a fair collection and redistribution of resources, which in turn rested on the maintenance of trust between different sections of society and across generations. Misleading rhetoric concerning those who had to seek support from the welfare state, such as the contrast between 'strivers' and 'shirkers', risked undermining that trust and, with it, one of the key foundations of modern society.
Source: Marion Ellison and Menno Fenger, 'Social investment, protection and inequality within the new economy and politics of welfare in Europe', Social Policy and Society, Volume 12 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
An article examined the financial well-being of elderly people in Europe, and the redistributive effects of minimum pension schemes. Such schemes were effective in tackling poverty, but not in ensuring that older people enjoyed financial well-being in line with the general population.
Source: Francesco Figari, Manos Matsaganis, and Holly Sutherland, 'The financial well-being of elderly people in Europe and the redistributive effects of minimum pension schemes', Rivista Italiana degli Economisti, Volume 18 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
A new book examined the relationship between social solidarity and welfare state provision in Europe. It offered a new theory on the formation of redistributive preferences, based on an approach combining theories of solidarity and structural incentives. Preferences were shaped by available institutional alternatives, cost-benefit calculations, and identity-oriented interests.
Source: Stefanie Borner, Belonging, Solidarity and Expansion in Social Policy, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Aug
A paper presented baseline results from the latest version of EUROMOD, the tax-benefit microsimulation model for the European Union. It presented indicators for income inequality and risk of poverty, and discussed the main reasons for differences between these and EU-SILC based indicators. It compared EUROMOD indicators across countries and over time between 2009 and 2012. It provided estimates of marginal effective tax rates for all 27 EU countries in order to explore the effect of tax and benefit systems on work incentives.
Source: Holguer Xavier Jara Tamayo and Holly Sutherland (with Silvia Avram, Paola De Agostini, Francesco Figari, Horacio Levy, Jekaterina Navicke, Alari Paulus, Olga Rastrigina, Iva Tasseva, and Alberto Tumino), Baseline Results from the EU27 EUROMOD (2009-2012), EUROMOD Working Paper EM13/13, Institute for Social and Economic Research (University of Essex)
Links: Working paper | Abstract
Notes: EU-SILC = European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions
Date: 2013-Jul
A paper described an exercise carried out to improve the monitoring of the economic situation of households in the European Union. It focused on how changes in national income affected different groups of household.
Source: Maria Liviana Mattonetti, European Household Income by Groups of Households: 2013 edition, Eurostat (European Union)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jul
A paper examined whether social cohesion made economic reforms more likely in developed countries. Most dimensions of social cohesion were found not to influence reform capacity. However, views of fairness based on merit (in contrast to equality), and to some extent social divisions, were found to have a positive effect on economic reforms. Social cohesion might thus be a 'double-edged sword' – especially so when it came to economic reforms in an efficiency-enhancing free-market direction.
Source: Hannes Andreasson, Niklas Elert, and Nils Karlson, Does Social Cohesion Really Promote Reforms?, Working Paper 33, WWWforEurope Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jul
An annual report examined social developments in the European Union in 2012. European institutions had intensified their programme of promoting austerity, while the political and institutional debates on the EU's democratic legitimacy and effectiveness had intensified. The European social dimension was 'clearly on the defensive' with little progress towards more sustainable forms of growth. The processes governing social policy in the context of the Europe 2020 strategy were, however, slowly maturing and were being taken more seriously by key actors.
Source: David Natali and Bart Vanhercke (eds), Social Developments in the European Union 2012, European Trade Union Institute
Links: Summary | Foreword | Chapter (Vanhercke) | Chapter (De Grauwe)
Date: 2013-Jul
A paper said that there was an increasing tension in European countries between the three main goals of social security systems – poverty alleviation, securing living standards, and prevention. In many countries the relative decline in poverty reduction had primarily affected work-poor households. This suggested that the poverty-alleviation function of social protection had come under pressure as a consequence of a shift of attention towards preventing 'benefit dependency'.
Source: Bea Cantillon, Natascha Van Mechelen, Olivier Pintelon, and Aaron Van den Heede, Why Has Social Security Become Less Pro Poor?, ImPRovE Discussion Paper 13/05, Centre for Social Policy (Antwerp University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jul
An article examined disparities in the demand for redistribution across European countries and American states during the 2000s.
Source: Maria Grazia Pittau, Riccardo Massari, and Roberto Zelli, 'Hierarchical modelling of disparities in preferences for redistribution', Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Volume 75 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jul
A paper examined the literature on localized socially innovative policies and actions aimed at overcoming poverty and social exclusion in Europe.
Source: Stijn Oosterlynck, Yuri Kazepov, Andreas Novy, Pieter Cools, Eduardo Barberis, Florian Wukovitsch, Tatiana Sarius, and Bernhard Leubolt, The Butterfly and the Elephant: Local social innovation, the welfare state and new poverty dynamics, ImPRovE Discussion Paper 13/03, Centre for Social Policy (Antwerp University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jul
An article examined what kind of welfare state Europeans preferred, and the relative role of equity, equality or need. Most European were found to share a preference for applying the equality principle to unemployment benefits, whereas they were divided over applying equity and equality to pension schemes. The 'haves' preferred equity over equality, but the 'have-nots' preferred the need principle more.
Source: Tim Reeskens and Wim van Oorschot, 'Equity, equality, or need? A study of popular preferences for welfare redistribution principles across 24 European countries', Journal of European Public Policy, Volume 20 Issue 8
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jul
A paper examined problems in obtaining timely information on social developments within European Union countries. It said the lack of fresh data on the social situation of households hampered the monitoring of poverty and inequalities, as well as the assessment of the impact of the crisis and policy responses on households.
Source: Paul Minty and Isabelle Maquet-Engsted, Data Sources for the Timely Monitoring of the Social Situation in EU Member States, Working Paper 2/2013, European Commission
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jul
A paper presented a method that could be used to estimate ('nowcast') the existing at-risk-of-poverty rate for European Union countries based on EU-SILC microdata from a previous period. It used data for 2007 incomes to estimate at-risk-of-poverty rates for 2008-2012, and where possible compared this with actual EU-SILC and other external statistics.
Source: Jekaterina Navicke, Olga Rastrigina, and Holly Sutherland, Nowcasting Indicators of Poverty Risk in the European Union: A microsimulation approach, EUROMOD Working Paper EM11/13, Institute for Social and Economic Research (University of Essex)
Links: Working paper | Abstract
Notes: EU-SILC = European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions
Date: 2013-Jul
A report examined trends over the previous quarter of a century in social cohesion in 34 developed countries. The three most important socio-economic factors associated with social cohesion were national income, a country's income inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient), and its level of development towards a modern information society (as measured by the 'knowledge index'). Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland had the highest levels of social cohesion; and most of western Europe – Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Spain – featured above-average to average social cohesion.
Source: Georgi Dragolov, Zsofi a Ignacz, Jan Lorenz, Jan Delhey, and Klaus Boehnke, Social Cohesion Radar: Measuring common ground – An international comparison of social cohesion, Bertelsmann Foundation
Links: Report | Country profiles | Bertelsmann Foundation press release
Date: 2013-Jul
An article said that policies aimed at reducing 'benefit dependency' in advanced welfare states rested on shaky empirical evidence. Systematic collections of national 'caseload' data were rare, social security programmes overlapped, and administrative categories varied over time. The authors employed administrative claimant data from six European countries as a way of illustrating trends over time and across countries, and to explore the scientific potential of benefit recipient numbers as an indicator for welfare state change over time and across countries.
Source: Johan De Deken and Jochen Clasen, 'Benefit dependency: the pros and cons of using "caseload" data for national and international comparisons', International Social Security Review, Volume 66 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jul
A new book presented an anthology of historical and contemporary research on basic income schemes.
Source: Karl Widerquist, Jose Noguera, Yannick Vanderborght, and Jurgen De Wispelaere (eds), Basic Income: An anthology of contemporary research, Wiley
Links: Summary
Notes: Chapters included:
Anthony Atkinson, 'Participation Income'
David Purdy, 'Political Strategies for Basic Income'
Fritz Scharpf, 'Basic Income and Social Europe'
Philippe Van Parijs, 'Is Basic Income Politically Feasible in a Social Europe?'
Guy Standing, 'How Cash Transfers Promote the Case for Basic Income'
Date: 2013-Jul
A new book examined the normative and legal evolution of the 'social dimension' – labour law, social security law, and family law – in both the European Union and its member states.
Source: Ann Numhauser-Henning and Mia Ronnmar (eds), Normative Patterns and Legal Developments in the Social Dimension of the EU, Hart Publishing
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Jul
A new book presented comparative, empirical research on economic inequality in affluent countries, focusing on the middle class. It considered how economic inequality affected, and was affected by, gender disparities, labour markets, institutions, and politics.
Source: Janet Gornick and Markus Jantti (eds), Income Inequality: Economic disparities and the middle class in affluent countries, Stanford University Press
Links: Summary
Notes: Chapters included:
Istvan Gyorgy Toth and Tamas Keller, 'Income distribution, inequality perceptions, and redistributive preferences in European countries'
Susan Harkness, 'Women's employment and household income inequality'
Anthony Atkinson and Andrea Brandolini, 'On the identification of the middle class'
Date: 2013-Jul
An annual report said that income inequalities had increased in advanced economies over the previous two years, against the backdrop of increasing global unemployment – predicted to rise from the existing 200 million to nearly 208 million by 2015. It expressed concern over rising long-term unemployment in the United Kingdom, and called for action to strengthen the position of low-paid workers.
Source: World of Work Report 2013: Repairing the economic and social fabric, International Labour Organization
Links: Report | Summary | UK report | ILO press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-Jun
An article examined the way in which social capital resources were incorporated, appropriated, and distributed by different social classes in Europe.
Source: Renato Miguel Carmo and Nuno Nunes, 'Class and social capital in Europe: a transnational analysis of the European Social Survey', European Societies, Volume 15 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper provided an economic analysis of the challenge of meeting the Europe 2020 objectives with regard to employment and social inclusion. It said that radical measures were necessary if the European Union were to be able to achieve the ambitious goals that it had set. Serious consideration should be given to:
Measures to encourage service sector employment, with particular reference to the demand side and the financing of new jobs.
Re-consideration of the employment target, replacing it by full-time equivalents, and possibly moving to an 'activity' target.
An EU unemployment insurance scheme, involving extended duration benefits.
An EU-wide child basic income, and possibly an EU basic income for all.
Taxation of lifetime capital receipts, and, possibly, EU child trust funds.
Measures, such as product market regulation requiring universal access, to ensure that low-income consumers were not excluded.
Source: Tony Atkinson, Ensuring Social Inclusion in Changing Labour And Capital Markets, Economic Papers 481, European Commission
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper examined how the interplay between work-family policies and one-parent households affected poverty risk, using a multi-level analysis across 25 European countries. It concluded that work-family policies were not sufficient to reduce the poverty gap between one-parent and two-parent households, or between lone-mother and lone-father households. Some measures (such as improved access to childcare) did reduce households' poverty risk, but the effect on a reduction of the poverty gap was very limited. Paradoxically, higher female labour force participation appeared to raise the poverty risk, probably by pushing the median income upwards.
Source: Elisabeth Ugreninov, Bjorn Hvinden, and Viggo Nordvik, Can Work-Family Policies Reduce the Poverty Gap between One-Parent and Two-Parent Households? A multi-level analysis of child poverty across 25 European countries, Combating Poverty in Europe project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jun
A study examined financial exclusion among vulnerable groups (migrants, low-income people, over-indebted people, old people, and disabled people) in five European countries (including the United Kingdom). It found that although cash remained the most common form of transaction, other methods were becoming increasingly popular, caused a number of problems for people vulnerable groups.
Source: Olivier Jerusalmy (with Georges Gloukoviezoff, Elisabeth Aro, Ewa Janikowska, Richard Alstrom, and Sharon Collard), Financial Inclusion and New Means of Payment: Qualitative review in five European countries, European Foundation for Financial Inclusion
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper examined the impact of relative and absolute income measures on material deprivation in European Union countries, and the role of national-level factors such as social stratification and income level. Material deprivation was found to be especially prevalent for countries that featured a high degree of social stratification: people with extremely low income in countries with a rather unequal economic structure suffered disproportionate levels of material deprivation.
Source: Sabine Israel and Dorothee Spannagel, Material Deprivation: An Analysis of Crosscountry Differences and European Convergence, Combating Poverty in Europe project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper examined the changing European framework for combating poverty and social exclusion since the late 1970s. It considered the extent to which the Europe 2020 strategy was characterized by effective multi-level and multi-stakeholder interaction, as well as integration of different policy fields, in order to reach the ultimate goal of poverty reduction. Fiscal and economic austerity policies had significantly reduced the effectiveness of European Union anti-poverty strategies: but, on the other hand, the rise could be detected of a multi-level and highly visible anti-poverty arena around Europe 2020, characterized by open stakeholder mobilization and political pressure as well as innovative policy proposals.
Source: Chiara Agostini, Sebastiano Sabato, and Matteo Jessoula, The European Arenas of Active Inclusion Policies, Combating Poverty in Europe project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper examined whether the assessment of anti-poverty programmes was influenced by the choice of welfare indicator, using data for six European countries (including the United Kingdom). It was found that income transfers were assessed as far more successful when information from indicators on both income and material deprivation was combined.
Source: Geranda Notten, Measuring Performance: Does the Assessment Depend on the Poverty Proxy?, Working Paper 2013-031, Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper examined the redistributive effect of public support in developed (OECD) countries to families with pre-school children, comparing cash benefits (e.g. child allowances) with 'in-kind' support (e.g. care services such as nurseries). On average, cash and in-kind transfers each constituted 7-8 per cent of the incomes of families with young children, and both instruments were redistributive. Cash transfers reduced child poverty by one-third. When services were accounted for, child poverty fell by one-quarter and poverty among children enrolled in childcare was more than halved.
Source: Michael Forster and Gerlinde Verbist, Money or Kindergarten? Distributive effects of cash versus in-kind family transfers for young children, ImPRovE Discussion Paper 13/04, Centre for Social Policy (Antwerp University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper examined the distribution of individual jobs over households in European Union countries, the link between individual employment rates and household employment rates, and the relationship between employment (at both levels of aggregation) and poverty. It was found that changes in the share of jobless households could not explain very much of the diversity in the changes in national at-risk-of-poverty rates during the economic upswing prior to 2008. Disappointing poverty trends during those years could not be attributed solely to the modest conversion of individual employment successes in household employment successes. But that did not diminish the importance that policy-makers should attach to reducing the number of people living in low work-intensity households.
Source: Vincent Corluy and Frank Vandenbroucke, Individual Employment, Household Employment and Risk of Poverty in the EU: A decomposition analysis – 2013 edition, Eurostat (European Union)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper examined how far in-work poverty in Europe was explained by country-level labour market institutions and welfare state polices. 'Micro-level' factors explained by far the largest share of the risk an employed person had of living in a poor household: nonetheless the prevalence of in-work poverty varied markedly across different countries, and the influence of country-level aspects was 'small but highly significant'. It was particularly important to foster not only the quantity of jobs available but also job quality.
Source: Dorothee Spannagel, In-Work Poverty in Europe: Extent, structure and causal mechanisms, Combating Poverty in Europe project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper reviewed social protection expenditure in Europe since the peak of the global economic crisis in 2009, focusing on the distributional impact of austerity packages. The fall in spending (in real terms) in 2011 and 2012 was significantly larger than during previous recessions, pointing to a weakening of the automatic stabilization function of social protection systems. The burden of austerity packages had been shared differently across member states, with varying impacts on the distribution of incomes, reflecting the specific design and mix of measures taken in different member states.
Source: Olivier Bontout and Terezie Lokajickovao, Social Protection Budgets in the Crisis in the EU, Working Paper 1/2013, European Commission
Links: Paper | European Commission press release
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper said that the claim that greater targeting of benefits on low-income groups in developed countries actually led to a smaller reduction in poverty and inequality was not supported by the evidence. The relationship between targeting and redistributive impact was a very weak one across countries, and if anything targeting tended to be associated with higher levels of redistributive impact, especially when overall effort in terms of spending was high. The best performing countries in terms of redistributive impact employed 'targeting within universalism': but this in itself was no guarantee of strong redistribution, and the reasons for variations between different countries were not well understood.
Source: Ive Marx, Lina Salanauskaite, and Gerlinde Verbist, The Paradox of Redistribution Revisited: And that it may rest in peace?, Discussion Paper 7414, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jun
An article compared the evolution of earnings instability in Germany and the United Kingdom. There was evidence that the overall inequality of earnings in both countries had been rising in recent years, due to both higher permanent earnings inequality and higher earnings volatility. However, taking institutions of the welfare state and risk-sharing households into account, the volatility of net household income had remained fairly stable. Redistribution and risk insurance provided by the welfare state was more pronounced in Germany than in the UK.
Source: Charlotte Bartels and Timm Bonke, 'Can households and welfare states mitigate rising earnings instability?', Review of Income and Wealth, Volume 59 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper examined the effects of benefit and tax reforms on the distribution of incomes of non-elderly individuals in Europe and in the United States of America both before and after the global economic crisis. Redistribution reduced income inequalities by much less in the USA than in much of Europe, but more recent policy changes had led to some degree of convergence.
Source: Herwig Immervoll and Linda Richardson, Redistribution Policy in Europe and the United States: Is the great recession a 'game changer' for working-age families?, Employment and Migration Working Paper 150, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper examined recent policy reforms in the area of 'active inclusion' – those affecting the adequacy of minimum income benefits, the provision of employment services, and the organization of access to services. It focused particularly on three groups: lone parents, long-term unemployed people, and those experiencing in-work poverty. It said that recent reforms had been very one-dimensional, focusing on labour market integration rather than wider issues of social integration. It was questionable how successful a greater emphasis on conditionality could be even in terms of the narrow goal of increasing the employment rate and reducing so-called 'benefit dependency'. In the meantime the coalition government's strict austerity programme had worsened the situation of many working-age benefit claimants, in terms of both benefit adequacy and access to services. The situation in Scotland differed from that in England in certain important respects: the Scottish government and Scottish local authorities had attempted to mitigate the detrimental effects of the reforms.
Source: Alexander Goerne and Daniel Clegg, National Report: UK, Combating Poverty in Europe project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
See also: National reports from the same project for Germany, Italy, Poland, and Sweden.
Date: 2013-Jun
A new book examined the ways in which social cohesion – measured as trust in unknown fellow citizens – could be established and undermined. In the United Kingdom and the United States of America, social cohesion had declined in the latter part of the twentieth century: people had come to believe that most other citizens belonged to an untrustworthy, undeserving, and even dangerous 'bottom' of society rather than to the trustworthy middle classes. By contrast in Sweden and Denmark, where social cohesion had increased, people believed that most citizens belonged to the 'middle' of society rather than to the 'bottom'; and that the (perceived) narrow 'bottom' of their society was trustworthy, deserving, and peaceful. The author said that social cohesion was primarily a cognitive phenomenon, in contrast to previous research that had emphasized factors such as the presence of shared moral norms, fair institutions, networks, and engagement in civil society.
Source: Christian Albrekt Larsen, The Rise and Fall of Social Cohesion: The construction and de-construction of social trust in the US, UK, Sweden and Denmark, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Jun
Campaigners described as 'deeply worrying' proposals by the European Commission (in its social investment plan) to shift funding away from 'passive' social protection and universal services to more targeted services, temporary payments, and conditionality. Although investment in 'enabling' approaches was crucial to empower people at risk of poverty, restrictive approaches could be counter-productive. Comprehensive, integrated strategies that combined social investment with social protection were the most effective in reducing poverty.
Source: EAPN Response to the Social Investment Package: Will It Reduce Poverty?, European Anti-Poverty Network
Links: Report
See also: Commission proposals (February 2013)
Date: 2013-Jun
An article examined the idea of progressive taxation and its justification (especially the 'ability-to-pay' principle) against the background of the financial crisis in Europe. Progressive taxation could be justified in the light of the three principles of need, merit, and equality – even more so in the situation of a crisis that undermined decent living conditions for millions. The principle of need had to be given priority even if doing so violated the principles of equality and desert.
Source: Helmut Gaisbauer, Gottfried Schweiger, and Clemens Sedmak, 'Ethical obligations of wealthy people: progressive taxation and the financial crisis', Ethics and Social Welfare, Volume 7 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper examined various underlying driving factors for the evolution of household earnings inequality for 23 developed (OECD) countries. Changes in labour market factors, in particular increases in men's earnings disparities, were identified as the main driver of household earnings inequality, contributing between one-third and one-half to the overall increase in most countries. Marital sorting and household structure changes also contributed, albeit moderately, to increasing household earnings inequality; whereas rising women's employment exerted a sizable equalizing effect.
Source: Wen-Hao Chen, Michael Forster, and Ana Llena-Nozal, Determinants of Household Earnings Inequality: The role of labour market trends and changing household structure, Working Paper 591, Luxembourg Income Study
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jun
An article examined the effects of labour migration on public pension systems in European countries from 1981 to 2009. Labour migration had deterred the reduction of public pension benefit levels and government expenditure on pensions, as well as the expansion of private pensions. This implied that labour migration eased the pressure on public pension systems. Migration effects had been larger in countries with Bismarckian pension systems because those countries had experienced greater pressure on public pension systems than other countries.
Source: Kyung Joon Han, 'Saving public pensions: labor migration effects on pension systems in European countries', The Social Science Journal, Volume 50 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-May
An article examined the effect of macroeconomic and social conditions on the demand for redistribution, using data from the European Social Survey. It was found that differences across countries in macroeconomic and social conditions had an effect on the demand for redistribution. Economic growth generated a lower demand for redistribution, whereas higher income inequality generated a higher demand. By contrast, differences across countries in unemployment levels and social expenditure were unrelated to the demand for redistribution. The empirical results also depended to a considerable extent on the assumptions underlying different methodological approaches.
Source: Mads Meier J ger, 'The effect of macroeconomic and social conditions on the demand for redistribution: a pseudo panel approach', Journal of European Social Policy, Volume 23 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-May
A report said that income inequality in developed (OECD) countries had increased by more in the first 3 years of the global economic crisis (to the end of 2010) than it had in the previous 12 years, before factoring in the effect of taxes and transfers on income. Welfare states had cushioned the blow for many people: but further social spending cuts risked causing greater inequality and poverty in the years ahead. After taxes and transfers, the richest 10 per cent of the population in OECD countries earned 9.5 times the income of the poorest 10 per cent in 2010, up from 9 times in 2007.
Source: Crisis Squeezes Income and Puts Pressure on Inequality and Poverty: New results from the OECD income distribution database, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Report | Spreadsheet | OECD press release | Guardian report
Date: 2013-May
A paper examined socio-economic exclusion in European countries, and its negative impact on economic development. It considered obstacles to gaining full and free access to education, professional healthcare, finance, and the labour market.
Source: Ewa Lechman, Socio-Economic Exclusion as a Hindrance of Economic Development: A comparative study for European countries, Working Paper Series A 9, Faculty of Management and Economics, Gdansk University of Technology (Poland)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-May
The European Commission published a series of country-specific recommendations aimed at promoting socially inclusive economic growth. It said that fairness was essential for the sustainability and effectiveness of reform. The crisis had already had a lasting impact on the most disadvantaged groups, with the share of people at risk of poverty increasing in many countries. Several member states needed to pay more attention to combating different forms of poverty – child poverty, homelessness, in-work poverty, and over-indebtedness of households – and to ensure the effectiveness of the welfare systems that dealt with those affected. The Commission said that the United Kingdom government should enhance efforts to support low-income households and reduce child poverty by ensuring that the universal credit and other welfare reforms delivered a fair tax-benefit system with clearer work incentives and support services; and it should accelerate the implementation of planned measures to reduce the costs of childcare and improve its quality and availability.
Source: Moving Europe Beyond the Crisis, European Commission
Links: Report | Country-specific recommendations (links) | UK recommendations | UK working document | UK in-depth review | European Commission press release | FEANTSA press release
Date: 2013-May
A paper explained how estimates of existing (2012) income, risk of poverty, and inequality ('nowcasts') could be made using 2008 data (EU-SILC) and the European Union tax-benefit microsimulation model (EUROMOD).
Source: Jekaterina Navicke, Olga Rastrigina, and Holly Sutherland, Using EUROMOD to Nowcast Poverty Risk in the European Union: 2013 edition, Eurostat (European Union)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-May
An article examined the extent to which cross-national differences in population and structural characteristics could explain the differences in poverty outcomes in Europe by gender. It analyzed gender differences in the risk of being poor, entering into poverty, and exiting from poverty among 17 European countries. Structural effects (such as welfare state policies, labour market characteristics, level of inequality, and the level of women's empowerment) seemed to be more relevant than individual effects in explaining differences in the gender poverty gap among countries.
Source: Elena Barcena-Martin and Ana Moro-Egido, 'Gender and poverty risk in Europe', Feminist Economics, Volume 19 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-May
A report compared people's exposure to poverty in Europe using three different measures: income, expenditure, and material deprivation. No single data source provided joint information on all these variables. The authors described methodological work conducted to statistically match expenditure from the Household Budget Survey with income and material deprivation contained within the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). The three matching approaches used were parametric, non-parametric, and mixed. Overall, the mixed methods approach tended to perform slightly better. The implications of this work for the on-going review of the EU-SILC legal basis were discussed.
Source: Dominic Webber and Richard Tonkin, Statistical Matching of EU-SILC and the Household Budget Survey to Compare Poverty Estimates Using Income, Expenditures and Material Deprivation: 2013 edition, Eurostat (European Union)
Links: Report
Date: 2013-May
A report examined recent developments and trends in social security in Europe. Key issues included: the significant continuing impacts of the global economic crisis; the greater alignment of social security and employment policies to achieve more coherent outcomes; and a heightened role for pro-active and preventive approaches to social security. It said that social security administrations remained dynamic, and were capable of delivering positive and effective responses to the complex challenges confronting them.
Source: Simon Brimblecombe, Ian Orton, Bernd Treichel, and Yukun Zhu (with Jaime Arevalo, Florian Leger, Shea McClanahan, Maribel Ortiz, Jens Schremmer, and Cherry Thompson-Senior), Europe: Enhancing the Sustainability of Comprehensive Social Security Systems – Developments and trends, International Social Security Association
Links: Report | ISSA press release
Date: 2013-May
A paper examined the impact of including the value of public healthcare, long-term care, education, and childcare on estimates of income inequality and financial poverty in 23 European countries. To account for the fact that the receipt of public services was associated with particular needs, a theory-based common equivalence scale was introduced, termed the needs-adjusted European Union scale. Even though the ranking of countries by estimates of overall inequality and poverty proved to be only slightly affected by the choice between the conventional scale (accounting only for the size of the household) and the adjusted scale, poverty estimates by household types were shown to be significantly affected by the choice of equivalence scale.
Source: Rolf Aaberge, Audun Langorgen, and Petter Lindgren, The Distributional Impact of Public Services in European Countries: 2013 edition, Eurostat (European Union)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-May
A report examined child poverty in a European context, its causes, and how it affected the lives of children and their families. The report challenged a range of myths and stereotypes relating to child poverty, and highlighted effective policy solutions that could help to fight child poverty – particularly in times of austerity and public spending cuts.
Source: Hugh Frazer, Towards Children's Well-Being in Europe: Explainer on child poverty in the EU, European Anti-Poverty Network/Eurochild
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Apr
A paper examined the link between different institutional features of minimum wage systems and the minimum wage 'bite' in European countries. Evidence was found that systems with bargained sectoral-level minima were associated with higher Kaitz indices (the ratio of the minimum wage to the average wage of the working population) than systems with statutory floors: but also with more individuals actually paid below prevailing minima. Higher collective bargaining coverage could to some extent reduce this trade-off between high wage floors and non-compliance/non-coverage.
Source: Andrea Garnero, Stephan Kampelmann, and Francois Rycx, Sharp Teeth or Empty Mouths? Revisiting the minimum wage bite with sectoral data, Discussion Paper 7351, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Apr
A report compared child well-being in the world's richest countries. It puts the United Kingdom in 16th position out of 29 countries – an improvement since 2007, when it had been placed last out of 21 countries for overall child well-being. Teenage pregnancy rates in the UK continued to be high, as did the numbers of young people under 19 not in education, employment or training. The UK also had one of the highest alcohol abuse rates among young people aged 11-15. The report was based on data up to 2010, the last year of the former Labour governments (1997 2010).
Source: Peter Adamson, Child Well-Being in Rich Countries: A comparative overview, Innocenti Report Card 11, UNICEF
Links: Report | UNICEF UK press release | Childrens Society press release | CPAG press release | NAHT press release | YoungMinds press release | BBC report | Guardian report
See also background papers:
Luisa Natali and Chris de Neubourg, Child Well-Being in Advanced Economies in the Late 2000s, Working Paper 2013-01, UNICEF
Bruno Martorano, Chris de Neubourg, Luisa Natali, and Jonathan Bradshaw, Child Well-Being in Economically Rich Countries: Changes in the first decade of the 21st century, Working Paper 2013-02, UNICEF
Jonathan Bradshaw, Bruno Martorano, Luisa Natali, and Chris de Neubourg, Children's Subjective Well-Being in Rich Countries, Working Paper 2013-03, UNICEF (also the basis for: Jonathan Bradshaw, Bruno Martorano, Luisa Natali, and Chris de Neubourg, 'Children s subjective well-being in rich countries', Child Indicators Research, Online first)
Date: 2013-Apr
An article examined the intra-generational and inter-generational redistributional consequences of early intervention programmes aimed at improving children's health and well-being. It was found that the parents' generation lost whenever such programmes were implemented. Furthermore, the rich part of the children's generation always benefited. Despite the expectation that early intervention put poor descendants in a better position, they might be even worse off if the effect of early intervention on their productivity was not large enough.
Source: Tim Lohse, Peter Lutz, and Christian Thomann, 'Redistributional consequences of early childhood intervention', European Journal of Health Economics, Volume 14 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Apr
A paper examined how welfare state policies were related to households' relative incomes for a range of European and north American countries between 1985 and 2005. It considered how two of the central factors that might be driving income inequality at the individual or household level – parental educational level and family structure – might be related to a household's relative income. Well established policy effects at the household or individual level did not necessarily translate into higher incomes for families with children relative to the overall distribution. Although family allowances might reduce the risk of poverty, they did not alter the financial realities of households with children relative to the overall income distribution. Households might have higher incomes, but family allowances did not noticeably alter where households with children fell in the overall income distribution.
Source: Stephanie Moller, Joya Misra, Elizabeth Wemlinger, and Eiko Strader, The Implications of Cross-National Policies for the Relative Incomes of Families with Children by Family Structure and Parental Education, Working Paper 588, Luxembourg Income Study
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Apr
A paper examined some of the forces that had driven changes in household income inequality in recent decades in six countries (Canada, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America). Although changes in the distribution of earnings had been an important force behind recent trends, they had not been the only one. Greater earnings dispersion had in some cases been accompanied by a reduction in the share of earnings, which dampened its impact on overall household income inequality. In some countries the contribution of self-employment income to inequality had been on the rise – whereas in others increases in inequality in capital income accounted for a substantial fraction of the observed distributional changes.
Source: Cecilia Garcia-Penalosa and Elsa Orgiazzi, Factor Components of Inequality: A cross-country study, Aix Marseille School of Economics (France)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Apr
A special issue of a journal examined the new release of EUROMOD, the European Union tax-benefit microsimulation model.
Source: International Journal of Microsimulation, Volume 6 Issue 1
Links: Table of contents
Notes: Articles included:
Holly Sutherland and Francesco Figari, 'EUROMOD: the European Union tax-benefit microsimulation model'
Holguer Xavier Jara and Alberto Tumino, 'Tax-benefit systems, income distribution and work incentives in the European Union'
Horacio Levy, Manos Matsaganis, and Holly Sutherland, 'Towards a European Union child basic income? Within and between country effects'
Lidia Ceriani, Carlo Fiorio, and Chiara Gigliarano, 'The importance of choosing the data set for tax-benefit analysis'
Date: 2013-Apr
A new book examined key issues surrounding disability benefits, welfare reform, and employment policy – including the appropriateness of active labour market policies that sought to promote transitions from incapacity benefits into work. It drew on evidence from the United Kingdom and a number of other European countries.
Source: Colin Lindsay and Donald Houston (eds), Disability Benefits, Welfare Reform and Employment Policy, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Apr
An article examined changes to the relative position of middle-income groups in 19 post-industrial countries between 1985 and 2005. There had been little change in the income position of the middle classes with respect to both market and disposable incomes. In most countries market incomes in the top quintile increased remarkably while the bottom quintile group lost out. The scale of government income redistribution had improved the position of the lowest-income group, while burdening the highest-income group: but it had failed to fully compensate for the growing gap between high-income groups and all the others.
Source: Ursula Dallinger, 'The endangered middle class? A comparative analysis of the role played by income redistribution', Journal of European Social Policy, Volume 23 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Apr
A think-tank report said that the European Union had allowed the global crisis to divert it from the goal of inclusive economic growth promised under the Europe 2020 strategy.
Source: Renaud Thillaye, Gearing EU Governance towards Future Growth: The side-lining of Europe 2020 and its worrying consequences, Policy Network
Date: 2013-Mar
An article examined whether multicultural policies undermined redistribution policies in European countries, by eroding the social cohesion on which redistribution measures were built. Policies that focused on recognizing minority groups might lead to a greater social acceptance of those minorities, and in turn might lead to their feeling more appreciated as participants in society. Multicultural policies could easily be combined with policies that invested in national unity and social cohesion.
Source: Francois Levrau and Patrick Loobuyck, 'Is multiculturalism bad for social cohesion and redistribution?', Political Quarterly, Volume 84 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Mar
An article examined income inequality for European countries and their composite regions from 1980 to 2009. Although between-country inequality had declined, within-country inequality had increased by approximately 50 per cent. European Union cohesion policies had reduced productivity inequalities, but had had little effect in stimulating convergence of employment-population ratios across regions. National priorities, particularly in the context of the economic crisis, were likely to hinder EU policies to reduce income inequality at a regional level: this might result in further increases in regional inequality among European regions.
Source: Justin Doran and Declan Jordan, 'Decomposing European NUTS2 regional inequality from 1980 to 2009: national and European policy implications', Journal of Economic Studies, Volume 40 Number 1
Date: 2013-Mar
A paper examined trends in low-wage service employment across 19 European countries between 1992 and 2010 in order to establish whether its expansion and poor quality were both as inevitable and as inter-related as the literature suggested. It concluded that socio-economic changes were driving the expansion of low-wage service jobs and that this process led to a service 'underclass'.
Source: Moira Nelson, Low-Wage Service Occupations in Europe: An inevitable underclass?, Working Paper 3.7, NEUJOBS Research Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Mar
An article examined the link between basic human values and attitudes towards redistribution, and how that link differed among classes and across countries in Europe. The links between values and attitudes were generally stronger in more materially secure and privileged classes. However, the relative strength of the associations varied substantially across countries. Where inequality was smaller and poverty less prevalent, the link between values and attitudes became less class-specific.
Source: Joakim Kulin and Stefan Svallfors, 'Class, values, and attitudes towards redistribution: a European comparison', European Sociological Review, Volume 29 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Mar
A report made a series of recommendations designed to promote the pursuit of social objectives by European Union member states. It said that there was a need to ensure that states balanced social and economic objectives; and that austerity measures did not drive an increase in poverty and exclusion. Each member state should develop a comprehensive anti-poverty strategy, and set ambitious poverty and social targets. The United Kingdom government should halt its programme of welfare reform, abandon plans to cap benefit increases, delay the introduction of universal credit, and retain the existing target for reducing child poverty.
Source: EAPN Assessment of 2013 Country-Specific Recommendations (CSRs) and Proposals for Alternative CSRs, European Anti-Poverty Network
Links: Report | Annex | EAPN press release
Date: 2013-Mar
A report examined progress by European Union member states in developing integrated comprehensive strategies for the active inclusion of people most excluded from the labour market, based on adequate income support, inclusive labour markets, and access to quality services.
Source: Hugh Frazer and Eric Marlier, Assessment of the Implementation of the European Commission Recommendation on Active Inclusion: A study of national policies – Synthesis report, Network of Independent Experts on Social Inclusion (European Commission)
Links: Report | European Commission press release
Date: 2013-Mar
An article examined the relationship between social assistance, benefit adequacy, and labour market activation in Europe. It was found that social assistance seldom reached commonly applied poverty thresholds. The adequacy of social assistance had also declined in recent decades, in tandem with an increased emphasis on the activation of beneficiaries. It therefore appeared difficult to perceive European social assistance programmes as just distributive instruments.
Source: Kenneth Nelson, 'Social assistance and EU poverty thresholds 1990–2008. Are European welfare systems providing just and fair protection against low income?', European Sociological Review, Volume 29 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Mar
A new book examined how, and to what extent, the European Employment Strategy and the open method of coordination (OMC) on social protection and social inclusion had influenced national labour market and social welfare policies.
Source: Martin Heidenreich and Jonathan Zeitlin (eds), Changing European Employment and Welfare Regimes: The influence of the open method of coordination on national reforms, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Mar
A paper examined cross-country differences in the size of household wealth and levels of household wealth inequality, drawing on data for the United Kingdom, Italy, Finland, Sweden, and the United States of America. The biggest share of cross-country differences was not due to differences in the distribution of household demographic and economic characteristics, but rather reflected strong unobserved country effects.
Source: Frank Cowell, Eleni Karagiannaki, and Abigail McKnight, Accounting for Cross-Country Differences in Wealth Inequality, CASEpaper 168, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion (London School of Economics)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Mar
A report examined gender differences in social protection in Europe. Social protection systems were not completely gender-neutral. Sometimes gender differences lay in the nature of a specific sex, and social protection benefits (such as providing healthcare at birth, and maternity/paternity benefits) had to take this into account. Other gender differences might exist in a more overt form, like distinctive retirement ages, which might influence unemployment benefits as well. Some gender differences were more covert or disguised: they usually related to the weaker position of women in the labour market, which was mirrored in the (employment-based) social protection schemes. Longer insurance periods or no access for low-income earners to social protection schemes mainly affected women. The same applied if longer insurance/residence periods were required for the calculation of benefits.
Source: Grega Strban, Gender Differences in Social Protection, MISSOC Analysis 2012/2, Mutual Information System on Social Protection/Social Security
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Mar
A paper examined the effect of unemployment insurance generosity and active labour market policies (ALMPs) on re-employment stability in Europe. Empirical evidence suggested that unemployment benefit receipt was associated with longer re-employment duration at the individual level. Furthermore, countries with more generous unemployment insurance and higher ALMP spending showed a more sustainable reintegration record of previously unemployed workers. These results pointed to a policy trade-off between the well confirmed disincentive and locking-in effect of unemployment benefits and ALMP programmes on the one hand, and their positive effect on re-employment stability on the other hand.
Source: Melike Wulfgramm and Lukas Fervers, Unemployment and Subsequent Employment Stability: Does labour market policy matter?, Discussion Paper 7193, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Mar
A paper examined the measurement of poverty in the European Union. It said that three key issues needed to be addressed: determining the appropriate metric of individual well-being; establishing a cut-off value or threshold under which people were considered to be poor; and deciding an aggregation procedure to attain a poverty figure for society as a whole. The paper considered the different answers that were implicit in the poverty measures applied in the EU's social strategy; and how the different conceptual choices in the measurement of poverty affected the empirical findings on the evolution of poverty between 2005 and 2009. The selection of an individual well-being metric, and the choice between a country-specific and a pan-European poverty line, strongly affected observed patterns of poverty in the EU.
Source: Koen Decancq, Tim Goedeme, Karel Van den Bosch, and Josefine Vanhille, The Evolution of Poverty in the European Union: Concepts, measurement and data, ImPRovE Methodological Paper 13/01, Poverty Reduction in Europe: Social Policy and Innovation (Amsterdam)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Mar
A paper examined the distributional implications (within and between countries) of an illustrative child basic income (CBI) operated and funded at European Union level. A universal payment of 50 per month per child aged under 6 could take 800,000 children in this age group (and their families) out of poverty and would close the poverty gap of those remaining below the threshold by 6 per cent. Most member states and virtually all families with children aged under 6 would be net gainers.
Source: Horacio Levy, Manos Matsaganis, and Holly Sutherland, The Distributive and Cross Country Effects of a Child Basic Income for the European Union, Research Note 2/2012, Social Situation Observatory (European Commission)
Links: Research Note
Date: 2013-Feb
A paper sought to explain redistribution and income inequality in developed (OECD) countries by revisiting traditional approaches and developing a composite model, supported empirically with data from 18 countries from 1970 to 2006.
Source: Mathew Wong, Median Voter and Power Resources Revisited: A composite model of inequality, Working Paper 584, Luxembourg Income Study
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Feb
An article examined a special module on inter-generational transmission of poverty in the European Union Statistics of Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2005 wave. Information relating to parental background and childhood circumstances was collected for all household members aged over 24 and less than 66 at the end of the income reference period. The authors used the data to compare findings from one-dimensional and multi-dimensional approaches to poverty and social exclusion, in order to provide an assessment of the extent to which welfare regime variation provided a coherent account of the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage.
Source: Christopher Whelan, Brian Nolan, and Bertrand Maitre, 'Analysing intergenerational influences on income poverty and economic vulnerability with EU-SILC', European Societies, Volume 15 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Feb
The European Commission called on member states to prioritize social investment and to modernize their welfare states. It said that this meant improving the performance of active inclusion strategies, and a more effective use of social budgets. The social investment package included a Commission recommendation against child poverty, calling for an integrated approach to child-friendly social investment. A series of linked working documents examined the related issues of active inclusion policies, homelessness, long-term care, and investment in health.
Source: Towards Social Investment for Growth and Cohesion: Including implementing the European Social Fund 2014–2020, European Commission | Investing in Children: Breaking the cycle of disadvantage, European Commission
Links: Communication | Child poverty recommendation | Working documents (links) | European Commission press release | EAPN press release | EPHA press release | ETUC press release | Eurochild press release
Date: 2013-Feb
A study explored the impact on women of the economic and financial crisis, in terms of social welfare systems across the European Union (including a case study of the United Kingdom). There had been severe reductions in social welfare services and benefits, although overall expenditure had increased as a result of increasing need. Where austerity measures had been pursued, there had been little consideration of the need for deeper structural reform: in particular, the gender impacts of welfare changes or welfare retrenchment appear to have been given little consideration.
Source: Katie McCracken, Matteo Jessoula, Antigone Lyberaki, Will Bartlett, and Ewa Kusidel, Gender Aspects of the Effects of the Economic Downturn and Financial Crisis on Welfare Systems, European Parliament
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Feb
A paper examined people's access to essential services in Europe, defining access in terms of affordability as well as the convenience of the location from which services were provided. For each type of service considered (healthcare, public transport, banking and postal services, and childcare) there were marked variations in access – or apparent access – between member states as well as between social groups within countries, with access being a particular problem in the lower-income countries.
Source: Terry Ward and Erhan Ozdemir, Disparities in Access to Essential Services, Research Note 8/2012, European Social Observatory (Brussels)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Feb
An article proposed a 'characterization' of a popular index of multi-dimensional poverty that, as a special case, generated a measure of material deprivation. The important feature of the variables that might be relevant for poverty assessments was that they were discrete in nature: poverty measures based on continuous variables were therefore not suitable. The measure was applied to European Union member states, illustrating how its recommendations differed from those obtained from poverty measures based exclusively on income considerations.
Source: Walter Bossert, Satya Chakravarty, and Conchita D'Ambrosio, 'Multidimensional poverty and material deprivation with discrete data', Review of Income and Wealth, Volume 59 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Feb
A paper presented statutory tax progressivity indicators for the 34 OECD member countries on the basis of average effective income tax rates and tax 'wedges'. There was a pattern of decreasing tax progressivity across income levels. In some countries, the tax system became regressive when the social security contribution ceiling had been reached. Child benefits increased progressivity (especially at low income levels) and their effect was larger than the flattening impact of social security contributions, except at top income levels. Reductions in social security contributions targeted at low incomes and dependant spouse allowances increased progressivity in some OECD countries. Income-splitting systems typically had the opposite effect.
Source: Dominique Paturot, Kirsti Mellbye, and Bert Brys, Average Personal Income Tax Rate and Tax Wedge Progression in OECD Countries, Taxation Working Paper 15, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Feb
A study examined tax policy-making processes in a sample of developed countries (including the United Kingdom). In all the countries, the importance of tax policy-making was undervalued, under-resourced, and influenced by a very small group of people.
Source: Christopher John Wales and Christopher Peter Wales, Structures, Processes and Governance in Tax Policy-Making: An initial report, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Feb
A new book examined the purpose and effectiveness of minimum wages in different European countries. It highlighted important national differences in the functioning of minimum wage systems and their integration within national models of industrial relations.
Source: Damian Grimshaw, Minimum Wages, Pay Equity, and Comparative Industrial Relations, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Feb
An article examined the short-term effects of unemployment benefit reforms in developed (OECD) countries. Although it took time for reforms to pay off, such reforms did not appear to entail any negative short-run effects. There was, however, some suggestive evidence that reducing unemployment benefits could have negative short-run effects in 'bad times'.
Source: Romain Bouis, Orsetta Caus, Lilas Demmou, and Romain Duval, 'How quickly does structural reform pay off? An empirical analysis of the short-term effects of unemployment benefit reform', IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Volume 1
Links: Article
Date: 2013-Feb
A paper examined policies in developed countries that focused on families with the aim of reducing overall poverty rates and family poverty in particular.
Source: Dominic Richardson and Jonathan Bradshaw, 'Family-oriented anti-poverty policies in developed countries', in Family-Oriented Policies for Poverty Reduction, Work-Family Balance and Intergenerational Solidarity, United Nations
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Feb
An article examined the impact in Europe of social class (of origin) on a relevant selection of risks: unemployment, ill-health, living in a jobless household, single parenthood, and low-paid employment. There was 'clear evidence' of a substantial influence of social class. Social investment strategies needed to take stock of the persistence of traditional stratification cleavages – otherwise, a one-sided approach might create new forms of exclusion.
Source: Olivier Pintelon, Bea Cantillon, Karel Van den Bosch, and Christopher Whelan, 'The social stratification of social risks: the relevance of class for social investment strategies', Journal of European Social Policy, Volume 23 Number 1
Links: Abstract
See also: Olivier Pintelon, Bea Cantillon, Karel Van den Bosch, and Christopher Whelan, The Social Stratification of Social Risks, Working Paper 11/04, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy (University of Antwerp)
Date: 2013-Jan
A report compared income tax burdens for one-earner families (married couples and single parents with two children) across developed (OECD) countries. United Kingdom income tax, as a percentage of gross wages, was greater than the OECD average at all income points considered. Furthermore, the disparity was greatest for low-income families.
Source: Alistair Pearson and David Binder, The Taxation of Families – International Comparisons 2011, CARE
Links: Report | CARE press release
Date: 2013-Jan
A paper reviewed evidence on the relationship between inequality and self-reported happiness. Inequality was found to reduce happiness in western societies, whereas the evidence for non-western societies was more mixed and less reliable. Trust in institutions seemed to play an important role in shaping the relationship between income inequality and subjective well-being.
Source: Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell and Xavier Ramos, Inequality and Happiness: A Survey, Discussion Paper 38, GINI Project (European Commission)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jan
A new book examined the factors influencing social mobility, and policies that might be put in place to facilitate it – in particular those concerning welfare services, childcare, the education system, career structures, and labour market services. A more cohesive society was one where people were not divided on socio-economic or other grounds, citizens accepted that the division of rewards was fair, and everyone had equal starting points in life.
Source: Alex Nunn, Fostering Social Mobility as a Contribution to Social Cohesion, Council of Europe
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Jan
The European Commission published an annual review of social and employment developments, highlighting a 'deepening economic and social crisis'. A new divide was emerging between (on the one hand) countries that seemed trapped in a downward spiral of falling output, massively rising unemployment, and eroding disposable incomes and (on the other) those that had at least so far shown some resilience – partly thanks to better functioning labour markets and more robust welfare systems. The crisis had affected groups already at heightened risk, notably young adults, children, and to some extent migrants, thus contributing to social polarization. Europe had been struggling to find appropriate policy responses. There was a need to modernize social protection systems and create better and fairer taxation systems. An effective social protection system that helped those in need was not an obstacle to prosperity, but was in fact an indispensable element of it.
Source: Employment and Social Developments in Europe 2012, European Commission
Links: Report | European Commission press release
Date: 2013-Jan
An article examined the distribution of labour earnings among employees within the European Union using data from wave 2007-1 of the EU-SILC. Earnings differences were sizeable, both across and within countries.
Source: Andrea Brandolini, Alfonso Rosolia, and Roberto Torrini, 'The EU-wide earnings distribution', Research on Economic Inequality, Volume 20
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jan
An article compared earnings inequality and mobility across the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom during the late 1990s. Earnings mobility and employment risk were found to be positively correlated with base-year inequality. Taken together they produced more equalization in countries with high cross-section inequality, such that the countries in the sample had more similar lifetime inequality levels than cross-section measures suggested.
Source: Audra Bowlus and Jean-Marc Robin, 'An international comparison of lifetime inequality: how continental Europe resembles North America', Journal of European Economic Association, Volume 10 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jan
A think-tank paper examined public attitudes in the United Kingdom, Denmark, and France towards 'reforms' of the welfare benefits system. The public prioritized benefits for older people at the expense of families and children; and growing inequalities in electoral participation risked further entrenching the status quo, heightening distributional conflict between generations. Centre-left parties needed to develop new arguments and find new ways of talking about fairness that justified additional spending on children and families.
Source: Patrick Diamond and Guy Lodge, European Welfare States after the Crisis: Changing public attitudes, Policy Network
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jan
A paper examined the extent to which educational systems fostered or constrained social mobility in European countries. Increasing rates of social mobility were found: but the erosion of the education-occupation linkage presented a threat to this trend. Considering formal credentials only, the most equalitarian educational systems were to be found in the United Kingdom and Ireland: but their ability to allocate individuals in the occupational structure was lower than in the other countries.
Source: Pedro Abrantes and Manuel Abrantes, What is the Impact of Educational Systems on Social Mobility across Europe? A comparative approach, Working Paper 1/2012, Socio-Economics Research Centre at the School of Economics and Management (Technical University of Lisbon)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jan
An article examined the degree of earnings mobility and inequality across Europe, and the role of labour market institutions in explaining cross-national differences. The country ranking in long-term earnings inequality was similar to the country ranking in annual inequality, which was a sign of limited long-term equalizing mobility within countries with higher levels of annual inequality. There was a significant negative association between earnings mobility and earnings inequality, both in the short and the long run. There was evidence that deregulation in labour and product markets, the degree of unionization, and the degree of corporatism were positively associated with earnings mobility.
Source: Denisa Maria Sologon and Cathal O Donoghue, 'Earnings mobility, earnings inequality, and labor market institutions in Europe', Research on Economic Inequality, Volume 20
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jan
Researchers compared the distributional effects of 'fiscal consolidation' measures in nine European Union countries (including the United Kingdom) that had experienced large budget deficits following the financial crisis of the late 2000s and subsequent economic downturn. The countries had chosen different policy mixes to achieve varying degrees of fiscal consolidation, with the burden shared differently across the income distribution. The UK was among six countries where those on the highest incomes had lost a higher proportion of their incomes than those in poverty. Including increases in VAT altered the comparative picture by making the policy packages appeared more regressive, to varying extents.
Source: Silvia Avram, Francesco Figari, Chrysa Leventi, Horacio Levy, Jekaterina Navicke, Manos Matsaganis, Eva Militaru, Alari Paulus, Olga Rastrigina, and Holly Sutherland, The Distributional Effects of Fiscal Consolidation in Nine EU Countries, Social Situation Observatory (European Commission)
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Jan
The report was published of a meeting (in September 2012) held to consider the impact on poverty of the Europe 2020 strategy. It said that some small steps had been taken in terms of agenda setting (for example in relation to child poverty and homelessness); more social priorities in the Annual Growth Survey; and a few more social elements incorporated into some of the country-specific recommendations. But this was not enough to balance the overwhelming side-lining of social concerns, and the predominance of a negative macroeconomic agenda that was undermining delivery of the poverty target. The Europe 2020 strategy was not preventing the dismantling of social protection, and in some cases was contributing to it and to the very rapid increase of poverty, inequality, and social tensions.
Source: Is Europe 2020 Delivering on Poverty?, European Anti-Poverty Network
Links: Report | EAPN press release
Date: 2013-Jan
A new book examined later-life poverty across the 25 member states of the European Union. It analyzed the poverty risks faced by older people, and discussed how such risks ought to be measured.
Source: Asghar Zaidi (ed.), Poverty among Older People and Pensions Policy in the EU, Ashgate Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Jan
A paper said that there was a 'near linear' relationship between the current poverty rate and the persistent poverty rate indicators across European Union countries. It explained how this relationship arose, and how a model could be used to predict persistent poverty rates from current poverty information. It discussed whether the EU's persistent poverty measure and the design of EU-SILC longitudinal data collection required modification.
Source: Stephen Jenkins and Philippe Van Kerm, The Relationship between EU Indicators of Persistent and Current Poverty, Discussion Paper 7071, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jan
An article examined how the associations between class, prestige, and wages in European countries could be explained. Class and prestige accounted for a very large proportion of the occupational variation in wages; and the tight links between class, prestige, and wages were strongly associated with the skill requirements of jobs – but only weakly tied to other positional traits, including authority, autonomy, and scarcity. The rank order of positions in the labour market was a social constant driven by efficiency requirements of work organizations rather than by the exercise of power. This 'iron law of labour market inequality' clearly contradicted major class theoretical models.
Source: Carl le Grand and Michael Tahlin, 'Class, occupation, wages, and skills: the iron law of labor market inequality', Comparative Social Research, Volume 30
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jan
An article examined whether voters in developed countries would punish their governments for cutting welfare state entitlements. Most parties with a positive welfare image lost support after they implemented cutbacks, whereas most parties with a negative welfare image did not.
Source: Gijs Schumacher, Barbara Vis, and Kees van Kersbergen, 'Political parties welfare image, electoral punishment and welfare state retrenchment', Comparative European Politics, Volume 11 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jan
A report examined the extent to which people in the United Kingdom were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2011, and how this compared with other European Union countries and over time.
• In 2011, 22.7 per cent of the UK population were considered to be at risk of poverty or social exclusion, equivalent to 14.0 million people: this was lower than the EU average of 24.1 per cent.
• 16.2 per cent of people in the UK were at risk of poverty in 2011, down from 18.7 per cent in 2008. However, this fall was at least partly explained by a real-terms fall in median income, leading to a reduction in the poverty threshold.
• 5.1 per cent of people in the UK were considered to be experiencing severe material deprivation, compared with an EU average of 8.8 per cent. The UK's severe material deprivation rate was broadly unchanged since 2005 when comparable figures were first produced.
• The percentage of people who said that they were unable to meet unexpected financial expenses had increased considerably since the start of the economic downturn, up from 26.6 per cent in 2007 to 36.6 per cent in 2011. The proportion of people unable to afford an annual holiday had also increased from 21.4 per cent to 29.7 per cent over this period.
• The proportion of people in the UK living in households with low work intensity fell to 11.5 per cent from 13.1 per cent the previous year. Despite this fall, the level of low work intensity in the UK remained higher than in most other EU countries.
Source: Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK and EU, 2005–2011, Office for National Statistics
Links: Report | NPI blog post | TUC press release | TUC blog post | Daily Mail report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2013-Jan
A paper examined the potential of EU-SILC survey and Eurostat statistic database to describe the relationships between social capital and household poverty in Europe. It focused on two sets of variables: an active variables proxy for community and household social capital endowment, and a set of supplementary variables describing household economic well-being. A strong association was found between social capital and household economic well-being, especially as far as poverty perception was concerned.
Source: Isabella Santini and Anna De Pascale, Social Capital and Household Poverty: The case of European Union, Working Paper 109, Universita degli Studi di Roma (La Sapienza)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jan
A paper examined the equity implications of 'fiscal consolidation' measures in developed (OECD) countries. There was scope to skew consolidation efforts in favour of more equity with only limited adverse impact on potential growth, including: increases in the effective retirement age; raising efficiency in the education and healthcare systems; cutting certain tax expenditures; raising taxes on immovable property; and broadly based consumption taxes. Increasing household direct taxes would reduce income inequality, while cutting transfers by the same amount would have a larger and opposite effect. However, raising progressive labour income taxes could have adverse effects on long-run growth. Cuts in government wages and employment could yield fast consolidation gains, but needed to be accompanied by increases in efficiency of service delivery to avoid hitting people in poverty. Cuts in unemployment-related and disability benefits were likely to hit poorer people in the first place: but they might have less adverse effects on inequality in the long run once employment increased in response to a better incentive structure.
Source: Lukasz Rawdanowicz, Eckhard Wurzel, and Ane Kathrine Christensen, The Equity Implications of Fiscal Consolidation, Economics Working Paper 1013, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Date: 2013-Jan
A paper examined differences between the United Kingdom and Sweden in the association between parental income and certain education and health/developmental outcomes.
Source: Anders Bjorklund Markus and Jantti Martin Nybom, The Role of Parental Income over the Life Cycle: A comparison of Sweden and the UK, Discussion Paper 7066, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jan
An article examined the effects of pension reform on hours worked by different generations, education of young people, retirement decisions of older workers, and aggregate growth in developed (OECD) countries. Simulation results favoured an intelligent pay-as-you-go system above a fully funded private system. Positive effects on employment and growth were the strongest when the pay-as-you-go system included a tight link between individual labour income and the pension, and when it attached a high weight to labour income earned as an older worker to compute the pension assessment base.
Source: Tim Buyse, Freddy Heylen, and Renaat Van de Kerckhove, 'Pension reform, employment by age, and long-run growth', Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Volume 26 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jan
