ILO (2014) “World of Work Report 2014: Developing with Jobs“, International Labour Organization Research Department, June. Since the eruption of the financial crisis in 2008 much of the global policy debate has focused on advanced economies and their ability to cope with the impacts of the crisis. During this period, a major policy shift has taken place in developing countries that has often gone unnoticed. Notably, in the face …Read More
World Social Protection Report 2014/15, Building Economic Recovery, Inclusive Development & Social Justice
International Labour Organization (2014) “World Social Protection Report 2014/15, Building Economic Recovery, Inclusive Development & Social Justice“, International Labour Office Geneva, 03 June. This report was drafted by a team supervised by the Director of the ILO Social Protection Department, Isabel Ortiz, consisting of Krzysztof Hagemejer, formerly Chief of the Social Policy, Governance and Standards Branch; Anne Drouin, Chief ad interim of the Public Finance, Actuarial and Statistics Services …Read More
All on Board, Making Inclusive Growth Happen
OECD (2014) All on Board, Making Inclusive Growth Happen, OECD Inclusive Growth Initiative with support from the Ford Foundation, May. Inclusive Growth, which is a new approach to economic growth that aims to improve living standards and share the benefits of increased prosperity more evenly across social groups, has become a major challenge for many countries around the world. This objective is particularly relevant in high income countries and …Read More
Missing a generation in EU politics
European Policy Centre (2014) “Missing a generation in EU politics”, FutureLab Europe, 07 April. The European Union has always struggled to build a strong relation with its electorate and the results of the 2009 European elections showed that turnout is still declining but also significantly lower than in national elections. The percentage of young people that voted in these elections was even lower, with an average of 29% for …Read More
Society at a Glance
OECD (2014) “Society at a Glance: the Crisis and its Aftermath“, OECD Social Indicators, OECD Publishing. The year 2014 is starting, with the perspective of a more widespread and sustainable recovery from the Great Recession. True, risks remain, and the pace of progress still varies widely: in the Eurozone, for instance, a number of economies remain in a fragile state. Nevertheless, the prospects for both the world economy and …Read More
Promoting the Social Economy as a Driver for Inclusive Growth and Social Progress
Schneider, E. M. & Laino, E. (2014) “Promoting the Social Economy as a Driver for Inclusive Growth and Social Progress“, SOLIDAR: Together for Social Europe, Briefing 64, March. The social economy is an essential pillar of the European social model and its actors play an important role in maintaining social services and in overcoming economic and social crises; in recent years 3.5 million new jobs have been created in …Read More
Financing the Real Economy
Canton, E. (2014) “Financing the Real Economy“, ECFIN Economic Brief, Issue 30, February 2014. Introduction In the aftermath of the economic and financial crisis, policymaking became more geared towards structural reforms to support the process of economic recovery, steered at the EU level through the reinforced economic govern-ance. While there areencouraging signs that an economic recovery is underway in Europe, growth pro-spects are modest and further re-forms remain necessary …Read More
Third European Quality of Life Survey – Quality of life in Europe: Trends 2003–2012
Eurofound, (2014), “Third European Quality of Life Survey – Quality of life in Europe: Trends 2003–2012”, 27 January. This report compares the results from the three waves to provide evidence of trends and change in the quality of life of Europeans over a decade. It also examines whether differences across EU Member States have narrowed or remained stable. One of its findings is that subjective well-being has remained stable across …Read More
Working for the Few
Oxfam, (2014), “Working for the Few”, 178 Oxfam Briefing Paper, 20 January Economic inequality is rapidly increasing in the majority of countries. The wealth of the world is divided in two: almost half going to the richest one percent; the other half to the remaining 99 percent. The World Economic Forum has identified this as a major risk to human progress. Extreme economic inequality and political capture are too often …Read More
Employment and Social Developments in Europe 2013
European Commission, (2014), Employment and Social Developments in Europe 2013, Brussels. This year’s report offers an in-depth and wide-ranging review of key labour market and social challenges facing the EU as it slowly emerges from recession. Where will Europe’s new jobs come from in an increasingly competitive global economy? Will active inclusion policies support help address rising levels of poverty among those of working age? Will the improvement in the …Read More