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  Introduction

In April 2002 the EFSQ finished the first project that addressed the policy field of employment from the social quality perspective. This project was financed by the DG Employment and Social Affairs. The first step to studying this field was already made in a special issue of the European Journal of Social Quality (Volume 2, issue 2 (2000), Social Quality of Employment, see Journal). The main thrust of the research concerned the ‚ underdeveloped - so-called 'adaptability-pillar' of the European employment objectives. The objective was to develop and apply the concept of adaptability to Europe's labour markets and especially assess the tension between flexibility in working time and employment security. The second objective was to expose how employment affects the social quality of the daily circumstances of citizens. To this purpose a theoretical connection was made between flexicurity and inclusion, one of the components of social quality.

The nature of flexicurity was measured by indicators on (i) income security, (ii) employment relations, (iii) working time and (iv) forms of care and leave. The countries covered in this comparative project were Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. Some important conclusions could be drawn from this research. High quality employment relations are of prime importance to the future social and economic health of the EU. Few countries meet the standards for a high degree of flexicurity of employees with respect to working time, for instance Belgium and Denmark. An increasing number of people become confronted with the problem of a discontinuous work-biography in general. Systems of social security in most countries are not really prepared to cope with this problem. With regard to forms of care and leave, Finland and Denmark lead the pack, and this only underscores the viability of the Nordic social-democratic welfare state. The main surprise is, undoubtedly, Portugal. It plans with small means for large ambitions and surpasses wealthy countries like the Netherlands, Germany and the UK. In general, this approach has shown problems related to mostly hidden propositions with regard to the position of men and women in the labour market by highlighting the distinction between paid and unpaid work.

This spring a new special issue of the European Journal of Social Quality will be published on 'flexibility and Social Quality' (Volume 4, issue 1 & 2 (2003/2004), Flexibility and Social Quality, see Journal). The results of this project will be further elaborated in future research by the European Foundation on Social Quality.		  


  Participants

  • Dr. Ton Korver (coordinator), TNO, The Netherlands
  • Dr. Laurent J.G. van der Maesen, EFSQ, The Netherlands
  • Dr. Ruud Vlek (assist.), GAK/Nederland, The Netherlands
  • Prof. Dr. Jozef Pacolet, University of Leuven, Belgium
  • Dr. Hilge Hvid, Roskilde University, Denmark
  • Prof. Dr. Pekka Kosonen, University of Helsinki, Finland
  • Dr. Juho Saari, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Helsinki, Finland
  • Prof. Dr. Georg Vobruba, University of Leipzig, Germany
  • Dr. Roland Habich, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, Germany
  • Dr. Erzsebet Bukodi, Central Statistical Office, Budapest, Hungary
  • Dr. Hubert Krieger, European Foundation on Working and Living Conditions, Ireland
  • Dr. Heloisa Perista, CESIS Lisbon, Portugal
  • Dr. Michael Laparra Navarro, University of Navarra, Spain
  • Dr. Monica Threlfall, Loughborough University, United Kingdom
  • Dr. David Gordon, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
 


  Joint Project Reports

The Joint Project Report 'Social Quality and the Policy Domain of Employment' is available for download (112 pgs 1.1Mb)

European Journal of Social Quality, Volume 4, Issue 1&2, 2003, Flexibility and Security in Employment.