Books & Reports

This book, edited by Ewa Latoszek, Irena E. Kotowska, Alojzy Z. Nowak, and Andrzej Stępniak,is mainly an aftermath of the international conference ‘European integration process in the new regional and global settings’ which took place on October 19–20, 2011 in Warsaw as one of the flagship conferences under the Polish EU Presidency. The publication focuses on selected issues presented and debated during the conference.

This book, edited by Sonja Drobnič and Ana M. Guillén, addresses tensions between work and private life. The amount of time spent on work, nature and design of the job, and working conditions in general influence the degree to which people are able to combine work and other important parts of life, such as family, care and social life. The eleven chapters of this volume explore job quality, job security, working conditions and time-use patterns of individuals and households. They also look at institutional contexts, such as family policy and other country characteristics.

Eurostat is marking the European Year 2012 by presenting in this book statistics on topics related to Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations, such as demography, healthcare, pensions, volunteering and adult learning. This publication has been produced in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and Eurofound, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.

This Book by Sylvia Chant (ed.) comprehensively covers the key themes that are vital to understanding poverty as a gendered process. The diverse aspects of the subject are approached from a range of disciplinary and professional perspectives, achieving extensive thematic as well as geographical scope. Written and edited by leading scholars and policy advisers this handbook combines theoretical insights with policy lessons. (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010, now also available as paperback)

This book by H.-P. Blossfeld, S. Buchholz, and K. Kurz presents a timely analysis of late career and retirement in nine European societies and the USA. Many European societies relied on early retirement programs in order to relieve national labor markets. However, one of the major challenges facing European and Northern American societies today is demographic aging, which in turn places pension systems under substantial pressure. This study investigates how these developments have impacted the situation of older workers and retirees.

Family policies do not fall within the remit of the European Union. Nevertheless, the EU may enact legislation on balancing work and family life, equality at work between women and men, and child protection and development, recommends the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). In their report “Family Policy and Demographic Change” the EESC also suggests a better coordination of family orientated initiatives and funding arrangements on the EU level.

In the near future, Europe will become more diverse due to mobility of its citizens as well as due to an increase in immigration from Non-EU Countries. This presents a challenge at local and regional level which should be tackled in close cooperation between authorities and civil society organisations, says a report by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). Under the headline “Cooperation in integrating immigrants” it lists recommendations concerning the legal framework as well as the more complex process of social inclusion.