Project description
Promoting fairer labour markets by understanding undeclared work
Undeclared and under-declared work remain a persistent challenge across Europe. It poses economic and social threats because it leads to revenue losses, weakens social insurance systems, and makes workers susceptible to exploitation and poor working conditions. The EU-funded REFAIR project is exploring the broader institutional and societal drivers behind informal employment. Through a comprehensive, multi-system comparative analysis across Europe, the project studies labour formality through the lens of policy design, empirical patterns, and public perception. Using insights gained from recently conducted survey and ethnographic studies, the project seeks to make recommendations towards establishing fair labour market regulations.
Objective
REFAIR seeks to develop new paradigms for understanding and responding to the phenomena of under- and undeclared work. Going beyond standard conceptions of informal work as the non-payment of taxes and social security contributions, we will engage in a multi-systems comparative institutional analysis of how types of un(under)declared work are constructed, rationalised, operationalised and addressed across European country contexts. Based on new indicators of ‘fairness’ as a multi-dimensional concept, REFAIR advances our understanding of un(der)declared work by focusing on three key elements of fairness: (1) fairness in how laws and policies are designed to promote and regulate labour formality; (2) fairness in relation to the nature of un(der)declared work, including its scale, patterns, drivers and risk factors un(der)declared work in the light of new data on its scale and characteristics; and (3) fairness in terms of how individual and institutional actors perceive informal employment practices and policies. Examining tensions between and within these three elements of fairness, REFAIR aims to identify innovative, context-sensitive and sustainable policy responses.
To achieve these goals, REFAIR employs a robust mixed-methods approach, including: legal analysis; a labour survey on the prevalence and drivers, a survey on the public perceptions of un(der)declared work; and qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews, ethnography and co-designed case studies in six countries representing diverse welfare and labour market regimes. By engaging stakeholders in co-creation and embedding informal work within broader debates on precarious labour, welfare governance, and economic justice, REFAIR will generate actionable insights for more inclusive, effective, and equitable labour market regulation across Europe and beyond.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences sociology governance taxation
- social sciences economics and business business and management employment
- social sciences law
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.2 - Culture, creativity and inclusive society
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.2.3 - Social and Economic Transformations
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL2-2025-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
3500 KREMS
Austria
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.