Brussels, 8 January 2013

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-5_en.htm

After five years of economic crisis and the return of a recession in 2012, unemployment is hitting new peaks not seen for almost twenty years, household incomes have declined and the risk of poverty or exclusion is on the rise, especially in Member States in Southern and Eastern Europe, according to the 2012 edition of the Employment and Social Developments in Europe Review. The impact of the crisis on the social situation has now become more acute as the initial protective effects of lower tax receipts and higher levels of spending on social benefits (so-called "automatic stabilisers") have weakened. A new divide is emerging between countries that seem trapped in a downward spiral of falling output, fast rising unemployment and eroding disposable incomes and those that have so far shown good or at least some resilience. The latter tend to have better-functioning labour markets and more robust welfare systems.

Some of the issues are: Growing eurozone divergence; Declining household incomes (declined between 2009 and 2011 in two-thirds of EU countries for which data is available, with the largest drops recorded in Greece (17%), Spain (8%), Cyprus (7%) and Estonia and Ireland (5%)), long-term exclusion risks (population groups most affected: young adults, unemployed women and single mothers); Crucial role of welfare and tax system design (at tackling poverty); Wages, Skills.

See: Employment and Social Developments in Europe 2012 – frequently asked questions

e.g. Evidence from the current economic downturn suggests that minimum wages have had positive rather than negative effects on the employment opportunities of the workers at the margin of the labour market; and minimum wages do not only affect employment outcomes, they also affect social cohesion (minimum wages has improved the gender pay gap: women who are more likely than men to be employed in sectors with low wages have seen a floor and a negative correlation between the minimum wage and the gender pay gap).

----
Also related is a FP7 Commission funded project:

Economic Crisis, the Quality of Work and Well-Being – The European Experience in the Great Recession: Findings from the European Social Survey

Professor Duncan Gallie and members of his team will report findings from two Rounds (Round 2 and 5) on the effects of recession on work, family and wellbeing and there will be panel discussion with speakers from the OCED and EC.
As part of the programme of European Social Survey Policy Seminars under ESS DACE (FP7 GA 262208), a seminar will take place on 21 January 2013 at the OECD, Paris (14.00-17.30, with a brief networking reception afterwards).
Professor Duncan Gallie and members of his team will report findings from two Rounds (Round 2 and 5) on the effects of recession on work, family and wellbeing and there will be panel discussion with speakers from the OCED and EC.
Register by 16th January 2013 at:
http://www.oecd.org/general/measuringwell-beingandprogress-events.htm