Books & Reports

The activity rate in the EU has continued its steady increase since 2008, in particular for older people, though not yet for younger people, as highlighted by this edition of the Employment and Social Situation Quarterly Review. Employment rate has returned to its pre-crisis level but with a much wider gap between countries, from 55% in Greece to 80% in Estonia, Germany and Sweden. The publication also stresses that permanent and full-time jobs continue to increase, though at a slower pace than in 2014.

This report was prepared by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. It is one of three reports that have been produced to guide the Commission’s deliberations. The central challenge in designing the post-2015 development agenda is to ensure that efforts to improve the quality of life of the present generation are far-reaching, broad and inclusive but do not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

The International Handbook on Ageing and Public Policy explores the challenges arising from the ageing of populations across the globe for government, policy makers, the private sector and civil society. It examines various national state approaches to welfare provisions for older people, and highlights alternatives based around the voluntary and third-party sector, families and private initiatives. The Handbook is highly relevant for academics interested in this critical issue, and offers important messages for policy makers and practitioners.

Migration has become a crucial issue for Europe, one that is likely to dominate policy and political agendas for many years to come. Migration is also increasingly presented, both in public and expert discourse, as a challenge requiring coordinated European responses, involving both Member States and the European institutions.

EU Employment and Social Situation Quarterly Review Winter Edition As in previous editions all graphs and related data are downloadable in excel format by clicking on the links provided. A link to a country-specific statistical annex is also provided at the end of the report. Here are some highlights:

The 2015 edition of the ESDE review looks at the following topics: self-employment and entrepreneurship, labour legislation, long-term unemployment, mobility and migration, social dialogue, skills, and social protection systems with a particular focus on the labour market participation of older workers and women.

The 10-year anniversary edition of Pensions at a Glance highlights the pension reforms undertaken by OECD and G20 countries over the last two years. Two special chapters provide deeper analysis of first-tier pension schemes and of the impact of short or interrupted careers, due to late entry into employment, childcare or unemployment, on pension entitlements. Another chapter analyses the sensitivity of long-term pension replacement rates on various parameters. A range of indicators for comparing pension policies and their outcomes between OECD and G20 countries is also provided.

This book examines the question of collecting and disseminating data on ethnicity and race in order to describe characteristics of ethnic and racial groups, identify factors of social and economic integration and implement policies to redress discrimination. It offers a global perspective on the issue by looking at race and ethnicity in a wide variety of historical, country-specific contexts, including Asia, Latin America, Europe, Oceania and North America. In addition, the book also includes analysis on the indigenous populations of the Americas.

This publication presents the first broad international comparison across all EU and OECD countries of the outcomes for immigrants and their children. It is the fruit of a joint co-operation between the European Commission (DG Migration and Home Affairs) and the OECD’s International Migration Division, in the perspective of a regular monitoring of comparable indicators of integration across EU and OECD countries.

This analytical web-note contains an extensive update of the main demographic trends for the EU and a labour-market supplement which outlines the potential consequences of the forthcoming demographic change (declining working-age population) on the EU's growth perspective. The Demography Report was jointly produced by DG Eurostat and DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission.