The votes have been cast, tallied and declared and we can now see the political landscape of the new European Parliament. To what extent have mixed developments in employment and quality of life contributed to the more fractured political landscape? And can the EU continue to deliver to the more diverse demands of citizens across Europe?
As citizens across the EU prepare to cast their vote in the European elections, the latest Living and working in Europe report from Eurofound looks at how work and life has changed in the EU since 2015.
Imagine you’re at work and something happens: you have to leave to visit a client, you have to go home to let in the plumber, or you have to collect the kids from school as the football training has just been cancelled. If you’re lucky, your employer gives you the flexibility to do this. If you’re even luckier, it is YOU who decides upon your schedule and place of work.
Despite differences in economic structure, labour markets and development, a pioneering study of the working conditions and job quality of 1.2 billion workers finds common concerns and challenges across 41 countries and four continents, according to a new report from the International Labour Organization and Eurofound.
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Structural change is expected to move much faster in the Member States who joined the Union after 2004, and we forecast big changes in the occupational wage and task structure in these countries in the run up to 2030.
Europe is back on track towards upward convergence, but some outliers remain.
Overall trust in institutions such as national governments, the legal system, the EU, and the media has rebounded in Europe following the recent economic recovery. However, in a number of the Member States most adversely impacted by the crisis, trust in national institutions has still not returned to pre-crisis levels.
Quality of life is improving in Ireland, particularly in relation to social cohesion, with the country recording some of the highest levels optimism in the EU and lowest reported levels of tension between racial and ethnic groups. However, a number of challenges remain, notably in public transport, childcare services, and social housing – all of which are rated below EU averages.
Eurofound Director Juan Menéndez-Valdés will present to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on EU Affairs at 14:00 GMT on Wednesday 12 December. The presentation will look at Ireland-specific data from the European Quality of Life Survey and European Working Conditions Survey.
There has been an overall improvement in the employment and social situation of people with disabilities in the EU, with more people with disabilities in employment and actively participating in society in 2016 than 2011. However, disabled people are still significantly less likely to be in employment than people without disabilities, and they remain among the most disadvantaged groups in Europe.
Eurofound's latest report from the Quality of Life Survey looks at five key aspects of social cohesion including perceived social exclusion, perceived social tensions, interpersonal trust, participation in society and a sense of community. Collectively, these aspects have an important bearing on the well-being of citizens.
Platform work is neither good nor bad – it just is. We need to adapt to this reality by finding ways to capitalise on the positive while at the same time counteracting the negative. This needs to be done in a differentiated way, taking account of the great variety in platform work. One-size solutions simply will not fit all.
Few events challenge the equilibrium between work and life like the arrival of a child. As gender roles continue to change in Europe, supporting the uptake of paternity and parental leave among fathers is fundamental, not just to close the ‘caring gap’ between men and women, but also to provide the best possible outlook for coming generations.
Feelings of insecurity in several dimensions of life are widespread in the EU, even among those who are materially well-off. Only 1% of the EU population enjoys the highest level of security in the combined areas of personal security and security in housing, healthcare, employment and old-age income.
In September Eurofound will release a new report on Burnout in Europe, examining what causes burnout, the effects of burnout, and mapping where in Europe it is considered an occupational disease.
As the European Union recoups the losses of the crisis and seeks a sounder footing for future growth, the concept of convergence has taken centre stage in the policy discourse. But what do we mean by ‘convergence’ in the European context?
It seems that social structures are hardening. As the modernisation of economies subsides, fewer new jobs are being created at the higher occupational levels, and this is curtailing upward mobility.
@JuanMenendezEF presents #eurofound latest research findings on #platform #work and employment conditions at the informal #EPSCO #eu2018at today 19 July 2018
It is well known that women take more responsibility for the care of their children than men. According to the 2016 EQLS, 88% of mothers compared to 64% of fathers in the EU care for their children every day. These fathers estimate they give 21 hours a week to the care of their children, while the mothers dedicate 39 hours per week.
