The government began consultation on the balance of competences between the United Kingdom and European Union in the areas of social and employment policy. The consultation would close on 17 January 2014.
Source: Government Review of the Balance of Competences between the United Kingdom and the European Union: Call for Evidence – Social and Employment Review, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills/Department for Culture, Media and Sport/Department for Work and Pensions/Foreign and Commonwealth Office/Health and Safety Executive
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2013-Oct
A report provided a framework for city action in Europe on job creation. Cities needed to address three broad sets of issues jobs and the economy, people and the labour market, and the connexions between them (such as governance, intelligence, and capacity) to achieve economic recovery, growth, and resilience. It set out a whole-system approach a strategic, coherent, systematic, and integrated means of creating more and better jobs.
Source: Mike Campbell and Alison Partridge (with Paul Soto), More Jobs: Better Cities A Framework for city action on jobs, URBACT (European Programme for Sustainable Urban Development)
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Jul
A think-tank report examined the potential benefits of full employment for individuals, families, and the state. Policies designed to increase the employment rate could help to raise the incomes of low-income households, and ease the burden on the tax and benefit system. They presented opportunities to address both inequalities between regions and those associated with gender and disability. They also enabled more people to access the paid work that was vital for a sense of social identity, participation, and well-being in modern society. The government should adopt a definition of full employment as an unemployment rate below 5 per cent and an employment rate of 80 per cent for the non-student, working-age population.
Source: Tony Dolphin and Kayte Lawton, A Job for Everyone: What should full employment mean in 21st century Britain?, Institute for Public Policy Research
Date: 2013-Jul
An article said that empirical studies on the unemployment effects of labour market institutions in developed (OECD) countries showed contradictory results. One explanation was that these institutions affected unemployment differently depending on the regime in which they operated. In corporatist labour markets, strict employment protection legislation reduced unemployment, and unemployment benefits had no negative effect.
Source: Simon Sturn, 'Are corporatist labour markets different? Labour market regimes and unemployment in OECD countries', International Labour Review, Volume 152 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jul
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 report examined the policy approaches and measures that had been implemented by European Union countries to tackle undeclared work since the beginning of the recession in 2008.
Source: Colin Williams and Piet Renooy, Tackling Undeclared Work in 27 European Union Member States and Norway: Approaches and measures since 2008, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Date: 2013-Jun
A report examined the extent and nature of policy analysis at the local level to assess worklessness interventions.
Source: Anne Green, Gaby Atfield, and Duncan Adam, Local Worklessness Policy Analysis Case Studies, Research Report 844, Department for Work and Pensions
Date: 2013-Jun
A think-tank paper proposed a comprehensive strategy aimed at promoting labour mobility within the European Union.
Source: Claire Dheret, Alex Lazarowicz, Francesco Nicoli, Yves Pascouau, and Fabian Zuleeg, Issue Paper 75, Making Progress Towards the Completion of the Single European Labour Market, European Policy Centre (Brussels)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-May
A paper examined how intra-European Union mobility of labour could be improved at EU level. Existing mobility rules did not make mobility attractive. The paper proposed solutions to enhance mobility for migrant workers who already resided in the EU. Proposals included making better use of existing mechanisms as well as the development of new rules to incentivize the exercise of freedom of movement.
Source: Yves Pascouau, Intra-EU Mobility: The 'second building block' of EU labour migration policy, Issue Paper 74, European Policy Centre (Brussels)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-May
A report examined employee mobility in Europe. It considered reform measures designed to increase mobility, and their likely impact.
Source: Wido Geis, Jobs without Frontiers: The potential of the single European labour market, Centre for European Studies/Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung
Links: Report
Date: 2013-May
A think-tank report said that the policy of austerity had increased 'idleness', and given rise to the additional problem of disguised underemployment. It called for a fiscal policy designed to promote employment, coupled with a redesign of the income tax, national insurance, and benefits systems. Fiscal policy should maximize the multiplier impact of public spending: tax cuts should have a low priority; benefit cuts should be avoided; and a programme should be created of rapid and large-scale investment in public works. All families should be given an unconditional, tax-free basic income payment that would be set at levels sufficient to alleviate poverty. The existing income tax and national insurance contributions systems should be replaced by a single income tax structure that was clear and progressive.
Source: Richard Murphy and Howard Reed, Financing the Social State: Towards a full employment economy, Centre for Labour and Social Studies
Date: 2013-Apr
A paper examined trends in the labour market, benefits, and inequality. Employment had risen by more than expected, given the path of output, and unemployment had risen less. Nevertheless, long-term and youth unemployment and involuntary part-time work were high. A polarized labour market risked worsening income inequality, which was high by the standards of other developed (OECD) countries. The reformed benefits system and the Work Programme would generally improve work incentives and provide support for return to work, but needed to be refined. Skill deficiencies were holding back employment and fostering inequality, as low education achievements penalized children from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Vocational training needed to be strengthened and co-operation with employers reinforced. The transition from education to work required more attention to the integration of university graduates into the labour market.
Source: Christophe Andre, Clara Garci, Giulia Giupponi, and Jon Kristian Pareliussen, Labour Market, Welfare Reform and Inequality in the United Kingdom, Economics Department Working Paper 1034, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
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
An article examined the effectiveness of the European Employment Strategy (EES). It was hard to get member states to move beyond their national priorities, resulting in the EES being a weak governance tool.
Source: Paul Copeland and Beryl ter Haar, 'A toothless bite? The effectiveness of the European Employment Strategy as a governance tool', Journal of European Social Policy, Volume 23 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jan