The review highlights continuing economic growth in the EU together with a steady decrease in unemployment. In the third quarter of 2016, employment exceeded its pre-crisis peak by 0.9%, or 940 thousand more people in employment than in spring 2008. In December 2016, there were 1.8 million less unemployed people than the year before; including 1.3 million people less in the Euro Area. Full online access to the report.

This is the eighth edition of Society at a Glance, the biennial OECD overview of social indicators. This report addresses the growing demand for quantitative evidence on social well-being and its trends. It updates some indicators included in the previous editions published since 2001 and introduces several new ones, with 25 indicators in total. It includes data for the 35 OECD member countries and where available data for key partners (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa); other G20 countries (Argentina and Saudi Arabia) are also included.

Population ageing, propelled by a continuous increase in old-age life expectancy and a persistent replacement level fertility, presents a challenge for many welfare states to keep up their welfare expenditure on pension, health care and all old-age services. Options for tackling this daunting challenge, such as increasing fertility and immigration levels, cutting benefits and growing public debts, present numerous obstacles.

This book examines the variation in high-skilled immigration policies in OECD countries. These countries face economic and social pressures from slowing productivity, ageing populations and pressing labour shortages. To address these inter-related challenges, the potential of the global labour market needs to be harnessed. Countries need to intensify their efforts to attract talented people – the best and the brightest. While some are excelling in this new marketplace, others lag behind. The book explores the reasons for this, analysing the interplay between interests and institutions.