Periodic Reporting for period 1 - WeLaR (Welfare systems and labour market policies for economic and social resilience in Europe)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-09-01 al 2023-11-30
Four megatrends - technological transformations, globalisation, climate warming and demographic changes - reshape labour markets, redefine opportunities and risks, and pose new challenges for welfare states in the EU. WeLaR aims to fill knowledge gaps about these processes by pursuing two main goals: (i) provide a comprehensive and comparative diagnosis of the effects on megatrends on labour market risks and challenges for welfare states; (ii) develop policy recommendations to adapt welfare states. WeLaR contributes to the destination’s goal of promoting inclusive growth, fair distribution of its productivity gains, and boosting economic and social resilience. In measuring effects, we account for interactions between megatrends, and disentangle their impacts of on labour supply, labour demand, and labour market allocations, which are also shaped by institutions. We pay particular attention to groups that often face higher labour market risks: women, young workers, people in atypical jobs or in in-work poverty. In developing policy proposals, we combine simulations with lessons from recent welfare state interventions and social innovation experiments, while accounting for political economy of reforms. We use an interdisciplinary approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methods and adopts a cross-country perspective, covering the entire EU, which allows us to understand the role of country-specific institutional settings for the effects of megatrends and challenges for welfare states. To ensure relevance of policy ideas, we engage in extensive consultations and set up feedback loops with stakeholders, which complement and validate the quantitative and qualitative studies. These stakeholder consultations help to develop concrete policy proposals aimed at resilient, inclusive growth. We deliver research papers and policy briefs. To maximise WeLaR’s impact, we disseminate the lessons learned and policy proposals to policy-makers, stakeholders and the public.
The overall aim of the WeLaR project is dual. First, to contribute a comparative diagnosis and an improved understanding of the individual and combined effects of the four megatrends, on labour markets and welfare states in Europe. Second, to identify policy measures that are conducive to economic and social resilience and inclusive growth, and to propose ways to adapt welfare systems so that they can adequately address the challenges posed by these megatrends and new forms of work, while ensuring their long-run sustainability. This overarching objective will be reached within an interdisciplinary research framework, accounting for gender aspects and vulnerable groups (e.g. atypical workers, young/old workers), and actively involving stakeholders.
The overall aim of the WeLaR project is dual. First, to contribute a comparative diagnosis and an improved understanding of the individual and combined effects of the four megatrends, on labour markets and welfare states in Europe. Second, to identify policy measures that are conducive to economic and social resilience and inclusive growth, and to propose ways to adapt welfare systems so that they can adequately address the challenges posed by these megatrends and new forms of work, while ensuring their long-run sustainability. This overarching objective will be reached within an interdisciplinary research framework, accounting for gender aspects and vulnerable groups (e.g. atypical workers, young/old workers), and actively involving stakeholders.
In the first reporting period, various objectives have already been achieved: 11 deliverables are submitted; 4 milestones are achieved; and several online and in-person project events have already been organised. The WeLaR project started with a review of the state-of-the-art on the labour market impacts of the megatrends and the relation with welfare states. This review considers lessons from the past, the current state-of-play, as well as predictions and scenarios describing what the future could look like. The review draws on literature from several academic disciplines as well as grey literature, and accounted for recent EU policy initiatives. This review allowed the team to do a gap analysis to avoid replicating existing results. The research team further gained access to critical datasets and develop joint research protocols guiding the partners in their activities. Building on this work, a joint research infrastructure was set up and opened up via the project website (highlighting relevant references, datasets, models). Besides these efforts, the project already delivered working papers on the effects of technological progress on the decision to retire and on the heterogenous impact of COVID-19 on labour market outcomes in the EU. The WeLaR project has also developed a stakeholder engagement strategy. An introductory webinar took place on February 27th, 2023 under the heading of “European Welfare States in Crisis? Labour Markets in Flux", counting on the active participation of the Advisory Board. A workshop on “Labour market supply: what policies to encourage labour market participation and ensure that no one is left behind?” was held in Leuven in November 2023.
The WelaR project has already produced several deliverables and stakeholder engagement activities, which will contribute to its potential impact in the longer run. WeLaR combines different types of activities – research, policy-oriented and stakeholder engagement activities – that target different groups at the European level and in the EU Member States (national, regional and local levels): the scientific community, the policy community and the stakeholders community. It provides them with outputs tailored to their interests and needs, to ensure that they will benefit from the project activities and results. WeLaR aims to contribute to an improved understanding of the labour market impacts - including the rise and diffusion of new forms of work - and their interrelation with welfare states in Europe, driven by demographic change, technological transformations, climate change and globalisation. The project further aims to support the adoption of policy measures, at different levels, to adapt welfare systems to (i) reducing socio-economic inequalities and poverty, (ii) protecting people from hardship and (iii) providing options for atypical workers and the self-employed to transition towards more stable work relationships if desired, while acting as a catalyst for economic prosperity; and to learn from recent policy interventions in a contextual manner and proposing adjustment measures.