SPICe Briefing 02/98

29 August 2002

EUROPEAN EMPLOYMENT STRATEGY

The European Committee launched an inquiry into Europe’s Employment Strategy

on 1 May 2002. The focus of this inquiry is job creation, corporate social
responsibility and skills and mobility in Scotland. The inquiry’s findings will
contribute to the analysis of Scotland’s contribution to European Employment
Strategy (EES) under the UK Action Plan for Employment, which aims to tackle
unemployment and eliminate poverty. This briefing provides background
information on the European Employment Strategy.

POLICY CONTEXT
At the Lisbon Summit in 2000 the EU Heads of Government agreed a 10-year
strategy aimed at achieving an overall employment rate of 70% across the EU,
from 61% at present. It was recognised by the Commission that the delivery of
this target by each Member State was dependent on local and regional action.

This strategy aimed at tackling unemployment has its origins in the Treaty of
Amsterdam 1997 and the thematic priorities agreed by Heads of Government in
1997 at the Luxembourg ‘Jobs’ Summit. The Title on employment created a
framework through which to monitor employment policies across the EU and to
adopt annual guidelines for Member States at EU level. The Treaty of Amsterdam
created a legal basis for the exchange of good practice with regard to
employment. The European Social Fund is a means of delivering on the aims of

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the strategy, though at present ESF funding is not directly tie to achievement of
the Employment Strategy targets. The Luxembourg Summit led to the first
guidelines for employment policies in Member States. The thematic priorities
agreed at Luxembourg were grouped in four pillars:

· Entrepreneurship: encouraging the development of self-employment,

reducing administrative formalities and identifying new sources of
employment
· Employability: bridging the skills gap in Europe in an attempt to prevent
the long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged groups from becoming
increasingly excluded
· Adaptability: increasing the ability of workers to cope successfully with
changes in the labour market
· Equal opportunities: facilitating the entry of more women into the labour
market.

These four pillars were intended to encourage a shift towards a more active and
preventive strategy for reintegrating the unemployed. To meet these objectives
the Luxembourg Summit suggested that all unemployed young people and adults
should be offered a job, training or other measures to make the integration of the
most vulnerable groups in the labour market possible.

The Luxembourg process also introduced an annual monitoring mechanism within

the framework of Annual National Action Plans (NAPS). NAPS are produced by
Member States and are analysed by the Commission and Council and presented
in a Joint Employment Report. The report’s findings are the basis for reshaping
employment policy guidelines and making specific recommendations to individual
Member States. However, the Joint Employment Report has no powers beyond
highlighting good practice or alternatively “naming and shaming”. If Member
States choose to ignore recommendations they may do so.

EMPLOYMENT TARGETS
The European Council at Lisbon 2000 adopted a set of quantitative targets for
raising employment rate in the European Union, (defined as the proportion of the
population aged 15-64, who have a job). Employment policy is an area where
the European Council has set targets to raise the employment rate in the EU from
an average of 61% to 70% by 2010 and to increase the proportion of women in
employment from an average of 51% to 60%, also by 2010.

At the Stockholm European Council in 2001, intermediate employment targets to

be achieved by 2005 were set at
· an average employment rate of 67% and
· a rate of 57% for women.

In addition the Lisbon Council stated that EU systems needed to adapt to the
demands of the "knowledge society" and that an improved level and quality of
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employment was necessary. Member States, the Council of Ministers and the
Commission were asked to meet a number of targets, including1:
· the achievement of a substantial annual increase in human resources
investment;
· the number of 18- to 24-year-olds with lower-secondary level education
only who are not in further education and training should be halved by
2010;
· the development of schools and training centres into multi-purpose local
learning centres;
· the drawing up of a definition of appropriate basic new skills to be acquired
through lifelong learning, including information technology skills, foreign
languages, entrepreneurship and social skills. A European diploma for
basic information technology (IT) skills should be established in order to
promote increased mobility of IT specialists in Europe;
· improvements in the mobility of students, teachers and training and
research staff, by making the best use of existing Community programmes;
and
· the development of a voluntary common European format for curricula
vitae in order to aid general mobility within the EU.

These targets were agreed with the aim of improving access to the labour market
for disadvantaged social groups.

To achieve the targets set at Lisbon, at European level, the Council of Ministers
and the Commission will look at four main areas:
· improving employability and reducing skills gaps, by means such as
creating a Europe-wide database on employment and learning
opportunities and by promoting special skills attainment programmes;
· giving higher priority to lifelong learning, including the encouragement of
agreements between the social partners on issues such as innovation and
lifelong learning;
· increasing employment levels in service industries; and
· furthering all aspects of equal opportunities, including the reduction of
occupational segregation.

In 2001 the Commission and Member States approved a joint working programme
with the European Employment Committee. Under the terms of this programme
the Commission agreed to “co-ordinate an impact evaluation, based on national
policy impact evaluation studies following a common thematic breakdown (see
VP/2001/011 for the terms of reference), and an EU-wide labour market
performance assessment by the Commission”2.

1
European Industrial Relations Observatory on-line “Lisbon Council agrees employment targets”
http://www.eiro.eurofound.ie/2000/04/feature/EU0004241F.html
2
http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/news/2002/may/eval_en.html
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The UK’s position in 2001 showed:
· economic growth at 2.2%, just below its long-term trend rate and higher than in
any other G7 country;
· an overall employment rate of 74.6%;
· an overall ILO unemployment rate of 5.1%.

According to a press release from the Scottish Executive (29 August 2002) GDP
figures for Scotland and the UK for the first quarter of 2002 were as follows:
· GDP (seasonally adjusted) for Scotland fell by 0.7 per cent in 2002. For the
UK as a whole GDP rose by 0.2 per cent.
· In the 4 quarters to 2002, the increase was 0.7 per cent, compared with the
previous 4 quarters (to 2001). The equivalent UK figure was 1.6 per cent.
· In the 4 quarters to 2002, output in the Scottish service sector grew by 5.7
per cent, compared with a 9.6 per cent drop in the production sector and a
4.1 per cent drop in construction. The equivalent figures for the UK were
+3.1 per cent (services), -3.7 per cent (production) and +5.6 per cent
(construction).
· In the 4 quarters to 2002, output in the Manufacturing sector decreased by
10.6 per cent, compared with the previous 4 quarters. In 2002, output
decreased by 4.3 per cent, compared with the preceding quarter. The
equivalent figures for the UK were -4.2 per cent and -1.3 per cent,
respectively

The following diagrams appear in the Treasury publication Realising Europe’s

Potential: Economic reform in Europe (March 2002) and show the UK’s position in
relation to other European Member States and the US. Though progress has
been made since the Lisbon Summit in 2000, according to HM Treasury’s analysis
“the EU continues in some respects to under perform both its US neighbour and
its own aspirations”. Concluding that, “closing these gaps is important for Europe,
for the UK, and for the global economy as a whole”3.

Figure 1

3
HM Treasury, Realising Europe’s Potential: Economic Reform in Europe, March 2002
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In accordance with the Social Policy Agenda, the European Employment Strategy
is to be reviewed this year, five years after its launch at the Luxembourg Jobs
Summit in November 1997. The UK has exceeded the Lisbon and Stockholm
employment targets. Almost three quarters (74.6%) of the UK’s working age
population are in work, with employment reaching 28.4 million at the end of 2001.
Levels of employment continue to rise, with increases being seen for both men
and women. The female employment rate is now 69.3% and the 55-64 year old
employment rate is now 53%. According to the Treasury, increased levels of
employment can also be seen amongst disadvantaged groups, such as lone
parents, ethnic minorities and those with disabilities across almost every region in
the UK.

Figure 2

A report4 evaluating the first five years of the implementation of the European
Employment Strategy in the UK was published in May 2002. This report
discusses progress made in key areas during the period 1997-2002. The areas
examined are;
· The impact of tax and benefit reforms on reducing unemployment (including
New Deal Programmes)
· Life long learning (particularly adult basic literacy and numeracy and
participation in job related training)
· The situation of disadvantages groups (including disabled people, people from
ethnic minorities and older people)
· Opportunities for flexible working hours (Working Time Regulation)
· Gender issues

Certain tentative conclusions were made regarding the current and future
employment position within the UK.

4
ECOTEC Research and Consulting Limited UK Contribution to the Evaluation of the European Employment
Strategy.
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New Deal for Young People and New Deal 25+ have, were felt to have been
particularly successful in their aims to help a large number of long term
unemployed people from benefits to work. Similarly other locally targeted
employment initiatives such as Action Teams and Employment Zones have
helped a large number of unemployed people into work in a relatively short period
of time.

In March 1999 the Institute for Fiscal Studies published a report5 examining the
long term impact of Government tax and benefit reforms on helping people into
employment. The report estimated that the tax and benefit reforms that the
Government is planning to introduce or has already introduced would help
287,000 extra people into work. The following table (figure 3) shows the estimated
impact of the different measures.

Estimated impact of the tax benefit system

(source Entering work and the tax benefit system (1999) Institute of Fiscal Studies)

REFORM EXTRA PEOPLE INTO WORK

men women all
Welfare to work tax credit 32 60 92
National Insurance reforms 33 82 115
10p starting rate of income 25 51 76
tax
Combined reforms 90 197 287

According to the findings of the report by ECOTEC, improvements have been

seen in the position of women in the labour market, following the introduction of
the tax-benefit reforms outlined above. There were 12,015,000 women of working
age in employment in 2000 (69.3% of all women of working age). In 1998 there
were 271,000 fewer women in employment and an employment rate of 68.3%.
Female ILO unemployment has fallen from 692,000 women of working age in
1998 to 614,000 women of working age in 2000. It is hard to measure the
contribution of individual policies and initiatives on these positive trends and
therefore the impact of tax-benefit reforms and measuring their gender effect is
problematic and as a result of this evidence of the impact of these measures is
limited.

Around 7 million adults in the UK still lack basic literacy and numeracy skills and a
number of major initiatives have been introduced by the Government since 1997
to tackle this. Difficulties arise in evaluating the success of these programmes as
lifelong learning has many definitions and initiatives tend to be spread across
different Government departments and policy sectors. However, ECOTEC did
present the following findings in relation to lifelong learning:
· Since 1998 public expenditure on education and training and lifelong learning
has increased;
5
Gregg, Johnson and Reed (1999) Entering work and the British Tax and Benefit System
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· Participation in job-related training has increased from 10.6% in 1997 to 12.4%
in 2001.
· The level of qualification held by people of working age has followed a positive
trend between 1997 and 2000 with an increasing number of people achieving
NVQ level 3 and above.
· A Basic Skills Strategy is now in place to help, among others, the 7 million adults
in the UK who lack basic literacy and numeracy skills;

ECOTEC suggested that the labour market position of disadvantaged groups

has improved in the period since the introduction of the EES. However, it was felt
that in most cases, it was impossible to attribute an improvement in the labour
market situation of a particular group to a specific initiative or set of initiatives,
though they are likely to have had some impact.

ECOTEC found that certain levels of progress had been made by the UK
Government in the development of a flexible labour market. Only one third of
employees in the UK now work ‘standard hours’.
Key Findings from this section of the report are:
· In the period 1997-2001, the number of people working part-time rose from
6,706 to 6,901 and this amounted to over a third of the number of people working
full-time;
· 40% of employers in the private sector offer the opportunity to move from full-
time to part-time work, with 17% offering the opportunity of job-sharing;
· The Government has introduced a package of legislative reforms to protect the
status of ‘atypical’ workers, including the Working Time Regulations.
UK EMPLOYMENT ACTION PLAN 2002
On September 12 2001 the European Commission agreed an employment
package to advance reform of EU labour markets. The three-part annual package
- a report on member states' employment performance, a set of recommendations
addressed to each individual member state and policy guidelines for the future,
recognises Member State governments for the positive results achieved to date in
creating new jobs and switching to job-friendly policies.

European Employment package 2002 comprises:

· Draft joint employment report 20016
· ADDI Implementation of the 2001 employment guidelines -–supporting
document to joint employment report 2001 – Commission staff working paper7
· Commission Recommendation on the implementation of Member States’
employment policies8
· Commission Proposal for a Council Decision on guidelines for Member States’
employment policies for 20029

6
(22665) 11839/01 COM(01) 438
7
(22732) 11839/01
8
(22670) COM(01)512
9
(22669) COM(01)511
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The UK Employment Action Plan 2002 covers both devolved and reserved areas
and is the result of “extensive consultation and agreement across Government
Departments and agencies responsible for the employment, economic and social
development”. In addition to Government departments, a wide range of
stakeholders are also involved in the production of the plan. This year the main
external partners were CBI, TUC, European Centre for Enterprises with Public
Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest (CEEP) UK and the
Regional Development Agencies in England. The Devolved Administrations of
Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have made separate contributions. For
both devolved and operational issues, there are a number of respects in which
arrangements in devolved administrations may differ from those outlined in the
Employment Action Plan. Areas of particular relevance to Scotland are discussed
in a separate section of this paper.

The UK Employment Action Plan 2002 outlines the following medium and long
term objectives:

To ensure by 2004
· a reduction in the number of households with children and with no one in work;
· a continued reduction in the number of unemployed people over 18 years old, taking
account of the economic cycle;
· improved literacy and numeracy skills for 750,000; and,
· the gap in employment rates is closed for the over 50s, ethnic minorities, disabled
people and other disadvantaged groups and areas.

To ensure by 2010
· a higher percentage of people in employment than ever before - taking account of the
economic cycle, at least three quarters of people of working age in work;
· an increase to 70% in the proportion of lone parents (95% of whom are women) in
work;
· a majority of young people going on to university or further education; and,
· a halving of child poverty, on the way to eradicating it within 20 years.

The EU European Council of Ministers recommends that the UK:

· foster social partnerships at the national level, to improve productivity and
skills, and the modernisation of working life
· reduce the gender pay gap and take action to improve child care provision,
with a view to making it easier for men and women with child care
responsibilities to take employment. Special attention should be given to the
needs of lone parents.
· Reinforce active labour market policies for the adult unemployed before the 12
month point to supplement the support provided by the Job Seekers Allowance
benefit and schemes to improve job search effectiveness within this context,
particular attention should be paid to groups facing particular problems in the
labour market.
· Reinforce current efforts to encourage and develop work-based training to
address increasing workforce skills gaps and low levels of basic skills.
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EMPLOYMENT ACTION PLAN FOR SCOTLAND
Annex B of the UK Employment Action Plan 2002 deals specifically with the
devolved administrations including Scotland.

In the plan, key priority areas for Scotland relate to the Employability and
Entrepreneurship Pillars.

Guideline 4: Skills for the new labour market

· Scottish Welfare to Work Task Force was appointed by Scottish Executive Ministers
to offer them and the Secretary of State for work and Pensions advice on Welfare to
Work policy and programme delivery.
· The Task Force is developing demand-led sectoral skills initiatives in areas with high
employment opportunities in Scotland such as the IT sector, retail, hospitality and
construction.
· A Task Force champion leads each of these initiatives brining together the Executive,
the Enterprise Networks, Jobcentre Plus and employers.
· Initiatives will pilot new ideas for training, mentoring, information dissemination and job
placements and will be linked to national ‘Ambition’ initiatives.

Guideline 7: Promoting social inclusion

· At both a Scottish and UK level the Welfare to Work agenda must identify how best to
promote social inclusion by supporting hard-to-help groups among the unemployed.
· At National level the Green Paper Towards Full Employment in a Modern Society
expressed the commitment of both the UK Government and the devolved
administrations in targeting long term unemployed adults and the economically
inactive. Initiatives including: the New Deal for Lone Parents and the New Deal for
Disabled People along with the modernisation of the supported employment
programme, WORKSTEP have extended the means of delivering this objective.
· Executive initiatives include the New Futures Fund, which offers support to young
people aged 16-34, suffering from serious disadvantage in seeking work. The target
group includes people with drug or alcohol problems; the physically or mentally
disabled; ethnic minorities; people with learning difficulties; and those who lack basic
skills or personal and social skills and are disaffected or de-motivated. The
programme is managed by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise
and offers intensive support for pre-vocational training or work preparation.

Guideline 9: Promoting entrepreneurial activities

The Executive has a range of initiatives, including the science strategy, which
support the Entrepreneurship Pillar. Smart Successful Scotland sets out a new
strategic direction for the enterprise networks, aimed at raising the rate of
sustainable growth of the Scottish Economy, including the following measures:
Greater entrepreneurial dynamism and creativity
More e-business
Increased commercialism of research and innovation
Global success in key sectors

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EVALUATONS OF THE EUROPEAN EMPLOYMENT STRATEGY

BENCHMARKING SOCIAL EUROPE: OPEN METHOD OF CO-ORDINATION

(OMC)
The method through which the European Employment Strategy is implemented
across Member States is known as the Open Method of Co-ordination (OMC).
The OMC is perhaps one of the loosest forms of co-operation as it is dependent
on voluntary action and the setting and measuring of targets. The OMC is
described as a co-ordinated, decentralised process established by the EU
Member States (MS) to work towards the strategic aim to develop the knowledge-
based economy set at the Lisbon Summit (2000) and the desire to increase social
cohesion and employment identified by the Council of the European Union (2000).

The effectiveness of OMC is dependent on:

· the exchange of “best practice” between MS, the use of “benchmarks” and
“reference indicators” for measuring the relative performance of MS in the
context of their different socio-economic and political situations
· the setting of “targets at national and regional levels
· regular reporting and “multi-lateral surveillance”.

The Commission is meant to play a co-ordinating role in this process, presenting

proposals in European guidelines, facilitating the exchange of best practices,
offering suggestions on potential indicators and supporting implementation and
peer review.

In the documents produced by the Council and the Commission OMC is

presented as “an instrument for deepening European integration, in conjunction
with other instruments, ranging from harmonisation to loose co-operation”.10 This
has led to fears that the OMC could lead to inaction as member states are to a
large degree, able to select their own policy priorities. On the other hand some
would argue that these are issues for Member States to develop policies
appropriate to their own national circumstances.

Though the implications of the OMC for governance have been examined by
lawyers, economists and industrial relations professional (e.g. Szyszack, 200011,
de la Porte, Pochet and Room, 200112), according to Threlfall (2002)13 the wider
social and policy implications such as impacts on society and family structures
have not been addressed.

10
De la Porte, C., Pochet, P. & Room,, G. (2001) “Social benchmarking, policy making and new governance
in the EU”, Journal of European Social Policy, Vol.11(4): 291-307.
11
Syszack, E. (2000) “The evolving European employment strategy” in J. Shaw, ed. Social ploicy and scoali
law, Oxford and Portland, Hart Publishing pp.197-222.
12
De la Porte, C., Pochet, P. & Room,, G. (2001) “Social benchmarking, policy making and new governance
in the EU”, Journal of European Social Policy, Vol.11(4): 291-307.
13
Threfall, M. (2002) “The European Empoloyment Strategy and Guidelines: Towards an All-Working
Society?” Paper presented to the conference of the European Community Studies Association of Canada,
Toronto, 29 May – June 2002, unpublished draft paper.
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However, the benchmarking of social policies across Europe is taking place in the
areas of social protection, poverty and social exclusion. In the view of de la Porte
et Al (2001)14 this is, “primarily because, against a background of the integration of
monetary policy and the close co-ordination of macro-economic policy, along with
a general commitment to promoting supply-side policies for flexibility and
employability, national and EU authorities have recognised the need to work
together on policies of social cohesion”.

EMPLOYMENT RATE
The employment rate is the indicator adopted for monitoring the implementation of
European Employment Strategy. It is significant that that it is the level of
employment rather than unemployment which has been chosen as it reflects the
hierarchy of EU employment priorities, with job creation being favoured over the
reduction of unemployment. Some academics are sceptical as to the reasons
behind this choice of indicator. As the unemployment rate is still a major
international comparative performance indicator, Threlfall (2002) believes “it is
possible to conclude that the shift of focus away from unemployment rates to
employment ratios helps member states look better at job creation than perhaps
they are”.15 This may or may not be the motivation, but it is important to be clear
that employment and unemployment rates measure different things.

What is the Employment Rate?

The employment rate is not the other part of the unemployment rate, which if
added together would make up the total workforce. The unemployment rate is
calculated from self-reported labour market participation based on survey
samples. The employment rate is a different measure based on the % of the
population figure derived from the census. Unlike the figures for unemployment
only one side of the calculation is self-reported, not both.

A rise in employment rate can come about in two ways:

· The number of people classified as unemployed falls because they find a job
· The number of people described as ‘inactive’ falls because they find work.
This figure may mean that a rise in the employment rate occurs when new
entrants to the labour market find work and increase the number of people
employed without necessarily reducing the number of people classified as
unemployed.

The following Pie Chart shows employment rates in Scotland for August 2001 –
June 2002.

14
De la Porte, C., Pochet, P. & Room,, G. (2001) “Social benchmarking, policy making and new governance
in the EU”, Journal of European Social Policy, Vol.11(4): 291-307.
15
Threfall, M. (2002) “The European Empoloyment Strategy and Guidelines: Towards an All-Working
Society?” Paper presented to the conference of the European Community Studies Association of Canada,
Toronto, 29 May – June 2002, unpublished draft paper.

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 Employment rates in Scotland - Aug/Jun 2002
source Labour Force Survey, Labour Market First Release Aug 02

Economically
inactive (of working
age)
21%

ILO unemployment
5%

Employment rate
74%

CHANGING WORK PATTERNS

There are an increasing number of part-time jobs being created across EU
Member States. This can have the effect of increasing the employment rate
though there may still be considerable “under employment” in the economy which
is not identified as unemployment. In addition as Threlfall (2002) points out that
the loss of a part time job, “contributes to lowering the employment rate/ratio, it
has the advantage of not increasing the unemployment rate to the same extent as
a loss of a FT job would, assuming that a full-time worker who loses that status is
far more likely to become unemployed than inactive”.16

The following table shows that in 1999, 17% of employees in the EU worked part-
time. In the UK 25% of the workforce were part-time, a figure only exceeded in
the Netherlands and Norway. 44% of UK women worked part-time, well above
the EU average of 31%.

16
ibid
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 Proportion of employees working part time, women and men, 1999 and
2000.
(Source: eironline17)
Country All Women Men
1999 2000 1999 2000 1999 2000
Austria 16.8 nd 32.5 nd 4.4 nd
Belgium 19.5 nd 39.1 nd 4.9 nd
Denmark 20.8 nd 33.9 nd 9.6 nd
Finland 11.9 nd 16.7 nd 7.1 nd
France 18.1 17.7 32.3 31.7 5.8 5.6
Germany* 13.9 nd 27.9 nd 2.9 nd
Greece 8.9 9.0 13.4 13.6 5.9 6.0
Ireland 16.7 nd 30.6 nd 7.4 nd
Italy 8.2 8.9 15.7 16.7 3.4 3.6
Luxembourg 10.7 nd 24.6 nd 1.8 nd
Netherlannd 28.5 nd 67.0 nd 10.3 nd
Norway 26.2 25.5 44.6 42.8 6.3 10.4
Portugal 11.7 nd 16.7 nd 2.9 nd
Spain 8.6 8.3 17.9 17.2 9.4 2.6
Sweden 23.8 nd 40.0 nd 8.9 nd
UK 24.8 nd 44.4 nd 6.3 nd
Average 16.8 31.1

(see Annex 1 for the references to notes eiro advise these figures should be read
in conjunction with)

GENDER, UNEMPLOYMENT AND FINANCIAL CO-DEPENDENCY

The rates of unemployment amongst women tend to be higher than amongst men
across member states (with the exception of Sweden and UK).

Spain, Greece and Italy have seen a rise in female participation rates which has
resulted in a rise in unemployment rates amongst women. In other countries with
a longer tradition of women being full-time members of the workforce, female
unemployment is also high. Issues of female unemployment are disguised by the
EU emphasis on employment rates/ratios. It has been suggested that instead of
the creation of new jobs being encouraged, a ‘secondary labour force’ is being
created which will attract more women, young people or students into the labour
force.18

Changing patterns of employment and the creation of a secondary labour market,

characterised by short-term contracts, part-time hours and/or low levels of pay,
means that it is often necessary for employees to be either living in financial co-
17
eironline – European industrial relations observatory on-line Gender Perspectives – an annual update
2000.
18
Threlfall (2001) The European Employment Strategy Guidelines: Towards an All-Working Society
t
presentendat the Loughborough Workshop on European Employment Strategy Guidelines 26 April 2001
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dependency or, as is often the case for students, living independently at least
partially financially supported by someone else. The high levels of women in part-
time work creates a gender dimension to the situation.

The issue of the ‘living-wage-job’ is key because, if the EU’s policies sideline the goal of
creating stable long-term full-time jobs for the unemployed among the core workforce that
needs to earn a full living, then the EU will be both shifting away from the single breadwinner
family model and perpetuating a household model of mutual dependency at one and the
19
same time. This is an awkward paradox.

The gender pay gap continues to be a significant problem in the UK, with women
earning on average only 81%97 of the average hourly pay of men. In fact a report
by the National Institute of Social and Economic Research on the Gender Pay
Gap found that women working full-time earn 82% of full-time male earnings, a
pay gap of 18%. Women working part-time earned only 61% of the male full-time
wage, a pay gap of some 39%.20

UNPAID CARE WORK AND AN AGING POPULATION

The informal care of the elderly the sick and children are still predominantly
provided by women. According to the OECD (1998)21
The demographic challenge to social policy arises from declining fertility and greater
longevity. The key point is that there will be fewer people of working age for every person
who is retired.... Ageing has led to an increased demand for care services, compounded to
some extent by the growth of independent living among the elderly. Increased labour force
participation by women reduces the number of those who traditionally have been the main
providers of care.

According to Moser (2002)22real or perceived shortages in the number of

people willing or able to act as unpaid carers and child care costs have resulted
in policy makers in Spain and Austria using reconciliation policies as a means
of removing women from the labour market. This is seen by some to signify a
weakness in the European Employment Strategy, which fails to address the
question of unpaid carework.23

YOUNG PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT OR CONTINUING EDUCATION?

Certain contradictory messages emerge from the scrutiny of various European
documents. In the Lisbon Summit Presidency Conclusions 200024 the importance
of training and continuing education were stressed,

· Every citizen must be equipped with the skills needed to live and work in this
new information society...The combat against illiteracy must be reinforced...
· The number of 18-24 year olds with only lower secondary level education who
are not in further education and training should be halved by 2010...

19
ibid
20
ECOTEC Research and Consulting Ltd. UK Contribution to the Evaluation of the European Employment
Strategy.
21
OECD (1998) The Caring World: Social Policies in the OECD
22
Moser, M. (2002) EAPN, Austria report, unpublished
23
Threlfall (2001) The European Employment Strategy Guidelines: Towards an All-Working Society
t
presented at the Loughborough Workshop on European Employment Strategy Guidelines 26 April 2001
24
European Council (2000) Presidency Conclusions, Lisbon European Council, 23-24 March 2000
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However, the goals of the European Employment Strategy are considered by
some to be somewhat cruder in emphasis as they disassociate the member of the
workforce from other areas of their life. For example employment rates are
improved when youth rates/ratios are included, though these should be regarded
as a negative rather than positive indicator as they may signify relatively low levels
of participation in further education and training. Within the Employment Strategy
targets there appears to be a stronger emphasis on raising employment than on
improving skills and education.

SCOTLAND’S LOCAL EMPLOYMENT STRATEGY

The European Commission considers regional and local level involvement to be of
critical importance in the effective delivery of the employment strategy. Within the
Employment Title of the Amsterdam Treaty, the Communication “Acting Locally for
Employment – a local dimension for the European Employment Strategy”,
published in 2000, initiated consultation on how local dimensions might be
strengthened. This led to the 2000 Resolution of the European Parliament on
“Acting Locally”. The resulting Communication25 encourages the development of
local employment strategies and suggests possible ways for Member States to
exchange good practice and information which would benefit the strategy. The
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Andrew Smith, has lead responsibility
for policy questions arising from the Commission Communication on local action
for employment 2001. The UK Government has welcomed this Communication
as “a useful contribution to the employment strategy”.

Following agreement for the framework at Barcelona, implementation of the EES

will be under a new set of guidelines to be proposed by the Commission in
November 2002.

The following projects are examples of local employment projects located within
Scotland, aimed at identifying best practice in line with European Employment
Strategy:

25
Strengthening the local dimension of the European Employment Strategy, COM (2001) 629 final
providing research and information services to the Scottish Parliament

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Local Action for Employment (LAFE)
The local Action for Employment project is a pilot initiative funded by the European
Commission, Employment and Social Affairs Directorate General and Scottish
Enterprise Glasgow. The project was undertaken to establish how public
authorities could most effectively implement and participate in the European
Employment Strategy at a local level. The project included partner organisations
with both urban and rural experiences:
· Fundacion Por el Futuro de la Bahia de Cadiz from the Bay of Cadiz
· Zukunft im Zentrum from Berlin, Germany
· Scottish Enterprise Glasgow from Glasgow, Scotland
· Gobierno de la Rioja, Spain
· Randers Kommune from Randers, Denmark
· Werkstad from Rotterdam, Netherlands
· IFA from Vienna, Austria

The basis for the project was the commitment of all partners to learn from best
practice across Europe in response to the European Employment Strategy.
Partners in the project participated in staff exchanges and peer assessment and
have introduced examples of existing best practice of Member States’ responses
to the Employment Strategy at a local level. A detailed study of project delivery
and analysis of regeneration was undertaken within territories, which highlighted
the impact of the strategy at a local level. The experiences of the project partners
have been developed into a virtual textbook of best practice.

The LAFE project has identified approximately 150 projects across Europe which
have been classified as demonstrating good practice. Four factors were used in
the identification of good practice:
· innovation
· results
· transferability
· bottom up approach
25 have been selected as case studies which appear on the LAFE website26.

See 21 for websites containing European examples of local initiatives.

26
www.lafe.eu.com

providing research and information services to the Scottish Parliament

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Dundee Employment Action Plan
This Action Plan is designed under the CoSLA European Commission Local
Employment Action Plans in Scotland Project. This project is designed to assess
the efficacy and relevance of applying the European Employment Strategy within
the framework of local action planning processes. LEAP has been developed by
representatives of partner agencies from the Draft Learning, Skills Development
and Employment Strategy.

The project is 1 of 13 approved under Measure 1 of the Preparatory measures for

local Commitment for Employment. It is the only approved UK project sponsored
by a national association. Building on existing partnerships for local level
employment planning, six local partners are participating in the Dundee Local
Employment Action Plan (LEAP):
· Dundee City Council
· Scottish Enterprise Tayside
· The Employment Service
· Dundee and Tayside Chamber of Commerce and Industry
· Tayside Careers Limited
· Dundee College.
The plan is located within existing arrangements for Community Planning, and
draws on earlier work undertaken by the LEAP project.

As part of the project an area profile was developed which provides an analysis of
the population, labour market and employment characteristics of the local area
and which identifies key issues for the local economy. Existing strategies and
partnerships have also been identified and the extent to which the European
Employment Strategy is being applied at the local level, assessed. The Strategy
and Action Plan developed by the project establishes the desired local policy mix
in the context of the European Employment Strategy. Key action programmes
which identify the main development proposals and agency responsibilities have
been identified and suggestions made for the implementation and monitoring of
local strategies and action plans within the framework of key performance
indicators.

providing research and information services to the Scottish Parliament

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Annex 1
Proportion of employees working part time, women and men, 1999 and
2000.
27
(Source: eironline )

· Austria: figures from Eurostat labour force survey 1999.

· Belgium: figures from INS/NIS labour force survey.
· Denmark: figures from Eurostat labour force survey 1999.
· Finland: figures from Statistics Finland.
· France: figures from INSEE labour force surveys.
· Germany: figures from Federal Employment Service.
· Greece: figures for 1999 are from ESYE; figures for 2000 are an INE/GSEE-
ADEDY estimate.
· Ireland: figures from Eurostat labour force survey 1999.
· Italy: figures from Istat; part-time work as reported by survey respondents' own
perception.
· Luxembourg: figures from Eurostat labour force survey 1999.
· Netherlands: figures from CBS working population survey.
· Norway: unofficial figures produced by FAFO on basis of Statistics Norway
labour force surveys.
· Portugal: figures from Eurostat labour force survey 1999.
· Spain: total figures from INE labour force survey; gender-differentiated figures
from Eurostat labour force survey 1999.
· Sweden: figures from Eurostat labour force survey 1999.
· UK: figures from Eurostat labour force survey 1999.

Annex 2
· local Initiatives to Combat Social Exclusion
(Contains information on 700+ projects across Europe)
· Employment Ecotec
(Part of the European Social Fund Community Initiative transnational project
1995-2000)
· Social Enterprise London
(Contains details of UK and Ireland projects)
· Europa
(Positive experiences of projects funded through the European Social Fund)

SPICe Briefings are compiled for the benefit of Members of the Scottish Parliament and their personal staff. Authors are
available to discuss the contents of these papers with Members and their staff but cannot advise members of the general
public.

27
eironline – European industrial relations observatory on-line Gender Perspectives – an annual update
2000.
providing research and information services to the Scottish Parliament

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