Coping with the unemployment crisis in Europe

Since the 1970s, Europe has been plagued by a chronic unemployment crisis, which has escalated with the current Great Recession. The author discusses a number of relevant elements in this regard, including the extent to which social dialogue and social pacts have been successful in reforming labour markets and pension systems, the effect of active labour market policies and the characteristics of “resilient” economies. She concludes with the need to rethink social dialogue, social safety nets, the granting of loans – especially to SMEs – and the coordination of macroeconomic policies to increase labour demand.     

Ill health and social conditions amongst migrants and refugees—the case of Sweden

The present article delineates the state of health and socioeconomic situation of migrants and refugees in Sweden. Special attention is given to refugees. Migrants appear to have more extensive health problems and a shorter longevity span than native Swedes. The refugees constitute an especially exposed group of migrants. Experiences in the home country that relate to organised violence is a specific problem for this group. It has been estimated that 20 to 25 per cent of all adult refugees who have arrived to Sweden during the recent years have experienced torture in their native countries. Swedish migrant and refugee policy operates according to a model of decentralisation, aiming to avoid ethnic segregation in the big city areas. However, the integration policy seems, in many instances, to have had a negative affect on the situation of the refugees. During the period of time, in which the refugees wait for a residence permit, they are not permitted to work. The long period of forced inactivity—in some instances up to a couple of years—seems frequently to have aggravated the health of the refugees. In addition it appears to contribute to the ever increasing animosity towards them.     

The impact of EC border policies on the policing of ‘refugees’ in eastern and central Europe

It is increasingly becoming common knowledge that one of the major effects of the Single European Act 1986 will be to increase freedom of movement for some within the internal borders of the 12 European Community member States from 1993, while correspondingly restricting the influx of ‘outsiders’. What is still lacking, however, is informed research on the extent of this ‘exclusion’ and the likely impact of such exclusionist policy on the policing and movement of ‘refugees’ and migrants from South to North and East to West. It is the intention of this paper to address some of these issues. The main rationale behind these restrictionist and exclusionist policies is, on the one hand, a fear concerning floods of refugees invading the West from both the South and the East, due to either internal strife or poverty or simply economic disparity. On the other hand, a ‘tightening‐up’ of the asylum regulations and procedures is felt necessary on the official ground of ‘too many bogus applications’ being made to circumvent visa restrictions. This raises two problems in particular. Firstly, if the EC member States are becoming increasingly exclusionary, what happens to the refugee ‘flood'? Secondly, when is an ‘economic migrant’ not a refugee, or a refugee not a migrant, or even a ‘refugee’ not a suitable case for asylum? Moreover, even though it is realized at the political level that a long‐term strategy for ‘social and economic progress in the home countries represents the most important precondition to give the people in those countries a new professional and social perspective, which will encourage them to stay in their home countries’ it is nevertheless the case, unfortunately, that through Schengen and other EC inter‐governmental structures, the emphasis on control policy would seem to be dominant. Now that Hungary has joined the Council of Europe, has been a party to the 1951 (UN) Geneva Convention and the 1967 New York Protocol since March 1989, and together with Czechoslovakia and Poland has applied to join the EC, one has to wonder whether the ‘Cold War’ border between East and West is being shifted further East to become a ‘Closed ‘ border.     

Public and private photographs of refugees: the problem of representation

In 1948 Manivald Sein made a series of photographs as he crossed the Atlantic Ocean, illegally, on board the Walnut. He was one of 347 passengers, mostly Estonian refugees, who escaped Soviet occupation near the end of Second World War and who were again fleeing Stalin's wrath after living in Sweden for four years. This article will examine the various ways photographs taken by refugees in transit not only give a voice to their experience, but more importantly, allow outsiders to see them as complex human beings, which in turn provides a powerful counterpoint to prevailing stereotypes.     

Employment and unemployment patterns in the U.S. and Europe, 1973–1987

Employment trends in the United States and Europe are compared using Bureau of Labor Statistics data. These data set the stage for a discussion of the difference in employment growth between the U.S. and Europe. Also included are some elements that may partly explain the U.S. and European differences in job growth. In conclusion, labor market problems still remain even with the tremendous job growth in the U.S.     

The duration of unemployment in the construction industry

This paper examines the duration and frequency of unemployment contingent on personal characteristics using multinomial logit techniques. Both are important, since unemployment is the product of the duration and frequency of unemployment. The key result of this paper is that union and nonunion unemployment experiences are very different. Nonunion construction workers’ duration and frequency experiences depend on personal characteristics. In the union sector, in spite of rules which appear to favor experienced workers, duration experiences do not differ greatly by demographic group; only the probability of unemployment varies with personal characteristics. The report was prepared for the Employment and Training Administration. U.S. Department of Labor, under Research and Development Grant No. 91-42-77-33. Since grantees conducting research and development projects under Government sponsorship are encouraged to express their own judgment freely, this report does not necessarily represent the official opinion or policy of the Department of Labor. The grantee is solely responsible for the contents of this report. I have benefited from comments by Robert E. Hall, Franklin M. Fisher, Lester C. Thurow, James Medoff, Dennis Carlton, and especially Jerry Hausman. James Medoff supplied the CPS tape used in the study. Martin VanDenburgh gave expert programming advice.     

The measurement of unemployment using completed durations: evidence on the gender gap in unemployment in France

This paper examines how unemployment can be measured in a normative fashion - taking into account the mean and inequality of spell lengths - and how the extent of unemployment can be estimated from cross section data of the type found in labour force surveys. The issue is not straightforward since in these surveys completed durations of unemployed individuals are not observed yet they constitute the basis for calculating the kind of index that has been proposed to measure the extent of unemployment in a way that goes beyond the unemployment rate. The index proposed by Shorrocks has robust normative foundations and has an equivalent representation in terms of average complete duration and the density of completed durations. Building upon earlier work applied in the United States for estimating the average completed duration, we present a method that enables the index to be calculated based on an estimate of the density of completed durations. The approach is illustrated in the context of comparing male-female unemployment differences in France, where historically female unemployment has been higher than that of males.     

‘Friends that last a lifetime’: the importance of emotions amongst volunteers working with refugees in Calais

The European ‘refugee crisis’ has generated a broad movement of volunteers offering their time and skills to support refugees across the continent, in the absence of nation states. This article focuses on volunteers who helped in the informal refugee camp in Calais called the ‘Jungle’. It looks at the importance of emotions as a motivating factor for taking on responsibilities that are usually carried out by humanitarian aid organizations. We argue that empathy is not only the initial motivator for action, but it also sustains the voluntary activity as volunteers make sense of their emotions through working in the camp. This type of volunteering has also created new spaces for sociability and community, as volunteers have formed strong emotional and relational bonds with each other and with the refugees. Finally, this article contributes to the growing body of literature that aims at repositioning emotions within the social sciences research to argue that they are an important analytical tool to understand social life and fieldwork.     

Tax-funded unionism: The unemployment connection

Labor unions are widely regarded as private organizations which finance their activities exclusively through revenues collected from members and others who are covered by collective bargaining agreements. In reality, however, U.S. unions receive millions of dollars each year through grants and contracts from federal, state, and local governments for a variety of purposes, including aid to the unemployed; these funds are used (sometimes illegally) to finance union operations, including political activities. This article briefly explores the phenomenon of tax-funded unionism.     

The psychological impact of unemployment and joblessness

Economists have identified two principal adverse effects of unemployment. One is the output foregone that could have been produced if unemployed workers had been productively employed. The second is the psychological damage suffered by unemployed workers and their families. Psychologists have offered theories to explain how experiences such as Joblessness may lead to a deterioration in mental health. They also have designed and validated survey instruments capable of measuring various aspects of emotional health. Unfortunately, their efforts to document the psychological impact of unemployment have been plagued by data limitations, while economists largely have ignored this task. The purpose of this study is three-fold. First, we discuss why unemployment and Joblessness are likely to influence an individual's perception of personal efficacy, locus of control, and hence psychological well-being. Second, we discuss and critique existing efforts to examine the relationship between labor force experiences and locus of control. Third, we investigate the relationship between Joblessness and its component parts—unemployment and dropping out of the labor force—on personal locus of control, using observations from the NLSY and an alternative methodological framework. The NLSY is a longitudinal data set that contains detailed information on the personal characteristics of individuals in the sample, their labor force experiences and a specific personal locus of control. In discussing the results we also attempt to shed some new light on the debate between Clark and Summers (1979) and Flinn and Heckman (1982, 1983) over the question of whether being out of the labor force and being unemployed should be thought of as distinct states. We add further insight into this issue by examining whether there are psychological differences, as measured by locus of control, between otherwise comparable members of these two groups. Finally, we reconsider the Ellwood and Ruhm exchange over whether joblessness and unemployment lead to “psychological” scarring. We find that labor force experiences fail to influence personal locus of control for male youths. There is evidence, however, that perception of personal efficacy is altered by joblessness among young women. As the duration of a current unemployment spell lengthens, the likelihood of holding beliefs of personal efficacy decline for young women. There is also some evidence of scarring among women. For females who in the past have spent time both unemployed and out of the labor force, the greater the duration of their joblessness the more likely is a reduction in feelings of personal efficacy and more aggravated one's self-perception of helplessness. We also offer psychological evidence on the relative emotional well-being of the unemployed and labor force drop outs that largely supports the position of Clark and Summers that these conditions are largely indistinguishable.     

The effect of education on unemployment duration

Exploiting the variation in education induced by a reform that compelled individuals to obtain additional schooling in Turkey, and using administrative unemployment insurance (UI) records, we show that high-educated unemployed workers, compared to their low-educated counterparts, use unemployment benefits longer, and they are less likely to find employment before their benefit periods expire. This suggests education increases one's selectiveness over jobs. We also show benefit generosity impacts the high- versus low-educated differentially. Extended benefits increase low-educated workers' probability of finding employment more than the high-educated. Our findings highlight the importance of considering worker attributes when designing the UI system.     

Migration and refugees in Europe: Greek and British perspectives on implications for social work practice and education

One of the most significant aspects of changing social conditions is the increase in the number of people seeking to migrate relative to greater national and international restrictions on such movement. Within the framework of the European Union only some types of mobility are encouraged, and apart from EU policies, member states have different legislation and practices aimed, generally, at discouraging immigration, including of refugees. Their position, as marginalized or, literally, excluded people presents serious challenges to workers in the social professions. Recent military action in the Balkans threw into sharp relief the varied perceptions of the conflict, a range of attitudes to migrants and refugees and different social welfare responses within and between countries. This article therefore reviews some of the contextual factors surrounding asylum seekers, reports on welfare responses in Britain and Greece, and considers what the implications might be for qualifying and advanced training of European social professionals. Einer der bedeutsamsten Aspekte der sich gegenwärtig verändernden gesellschaftlichen Bedingungen besteht im Verhältnis von einer wachsenden Anzahl von migrationswilligen Menschen und den immer restriktiver werdenen nationalen und internationalen Regulierungen dieser Bewegungen. Im Rahmen der Europäischen Union werden nur einige wenige Formen von Mobilität gefördert, und jenseits der Politik der EU finden sich in den einzelnen Mitgliedsstaaten ganz unterschiedliche Gesetze und Verfahren, die allgemein gesprochen allesamt darauf ausgerichtet sind, Immigration - einschließlich die von Flüchtlingen - zu verhindern. Deren gesellschatliche Position als marginalisierte, oder im Wortsinne exkludierte Menschen stellt für die Angehörigen sozialer Professionen eine ernsthafte Herausfoderung dar. Vor dem Hintergrund der militäischen Auseinandersetzungen auf dem Balkan sind die unterschiedlichen Wahrnehmungen bezüglich des Konfliktes, die Unterschiedlichkeit der Einstellungen gegenüber Migranten und Flüchtlingen sowie die verschiedenen sozialpolitischen Reaktionen in und zwischen den Staaten deutlich hervorgetreten. Aus diesem Grund befaßt sich dieser Artikel mit einigen Kontextfaktoren, die Asylsuchende betreffen, berichtet über die sozialpolitischen Reaktionen in Großbritannien und Griechenland und fragt nach den möglichen Implikationen für die Aus- und Fortbildung in den sozialen Professionen in Europa. Uno de los aspectos más importantes del actual cambio en las condiciones sociales es al aumento en el número de personas que buscan migtar y las mayores restricciones a ese movimiento tanto a nivel nacional como internacional. Por ejemplo, en el marco de la Unión Europea sólo se fomentan ciertos tipos de movilidad mientras que, fuera de las politicas de la UE, los estados miembros tienen diferentes leyes dirigidas, generalmente, a desincentivar la inmigración, incluyendo a los refugiados. La situación de estas personas, como marginados o, literalmente, excluidos presenta un serio desafio a los trabajadores de profesiones sociales. La reciente acción militar en los Balcanes puso bruscamente de relieve las variadas percepciones del conflicto, un amplio rango de actitudes hacia inmigrantes y refugiados y diferentes respuestas de los servicios sociales dentro y entre los estados. Este articulo revisa algunos de los factores del contexto que rodea a los demandantes de asilo, hace referencia a las prespuestas ofreciadas por los servicios de bienestar en Gran Bretaña y Grecia y considera, por último, las implicaciones para una mejor cualificación de los profesionales sociales en Europa a tal efecto. Actuellement, un des apsects les plus significatifs des changements sociaux en cours est l'augmentation du nombre de personnes cherchant à immigrer, alors que les mouvements migratoires sont soumis à des restrictions nationales et internationales de plus en plus sévères. Dans le cadre de l'Union européenne, seuls certains types de mobilité sont encouragés, et à côté des politiques européennes, les états membres ont différentes législations et pratiques généralement destinées à décourager l'immigration, y compris celle des réfugiés. La position de ces derniers, en tant que personnes marginalisées ou carrément exclues, représente un défi sérieux pour les travilleurs sociaux. Les mouvements militaires qui ont eu lieu récemment dans les Balkans ont fortement mis en relief les perceptions variées qui existent du conflit, et tout un éventail d'attitudes envers les migrants et les réfugiés, ainsi que les réponses différentes proposées dans chaque pays et entre eux. Cet article passe donc en revue certains des facteurs contextuels entourant les demandeurs d'asile, décrit les solutions proposées en Grèce et en Grande Bretagne, et considère quelles pourraient en être les conséquences pour un enseignement qualifié des professionnels du domaine social en Europe.     

Iraqi refugees in Jordan: lessons for practice with refugees internationally

Asylum seekers, refugees who are resettled in third countries or those who are forced into refugee camps, present new challenges to social work practitioners. In an attempt to advance theory and develop specialised practice in the area of refugee studies within social work as an international profession, we argue that whatever the flight context, the country of asylum or of resettlement, there is a process underlying what Malkki referred to as refugeeness. This article focuses on the situation of Iraqi refugees in Jordan as an example of the challenges that confront today's refugees. We show that salient issues raised in a local community centre's needs assessment mirror those elements that are central to integration processes that have been discussed in much of the refugee studies literature across the world. We show how these concerns are closely linked to processes that resettled refugees and asylum seekers face, regardless of the country of resettlement. We introduce a framework for analysing an individual refugee's situation and show how an international phenomenon is linked to local practice.     

The scars of youth: Effects of early‐career unemployment on future unemployment experience

Does early‐career unemployment cause future unemployment? The authors approach this question using German administrative matched employer–employee data that track almost 700,000 individuals over 24 years. Instrumenting early‐career unemployment with firm‐specific labour demand shocks, they find significant and long‐lasting “scarring effects”. In the mean, each additional day of unemployment during the first eight years on the labour market increases unemployment in the following 16 years by half a day. However, quantile regressions show that the scarring effects are much stronger for individuals who already suffer from lengthy and repeated spells of unemployment.     

The state,refugees and migration in sub-Saharan Africa

Migration and refugee movements could significantly decline in sub-Saharan African countries. However, countries must redistribute meager resources equitably and engage in environmental protection. Refugee and migrant populations have increased in sub-Saharan Africa during 1969-95, from 700,000 to 6.8 million. This study examined the causes of migration and the implications for host countries. Doornbos (1990) identifies the root problem as the partisan nature of African politics and the incapacity to manage ecological degradation. The African state is wholly or partially responsible for the creation of conflicts. Examples abound in Zaire, South Africa, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Ethiopia, Liberia, Congo, and Chad. State partisanship is also evident in Angola, Mozambique, Uganda, and Sierra Leone. An estimated 10 million Africans, in 1985, left their homes due to wars, government repression, or the inability of land to support them. In 1994, USAID estimated that 11.6 million Africans in 10 countries were threatened by famine from drought. Environmental degradation has generated conflicts. Africa's marginalized economy results in recession, unemployment, inflation, and distributional conflicts. Democratization has brought conflicts between the state, civil society, and exiles. Refugees face homelessness, poverty, emotional distress, inadequate food, and disease. Host countries face security threats, pressure on limited resources, rebellions from refugees and their involvement with foreign mercenaries, local conflicts between native and refugee populations, and environmental degradation from refugees.     

Moving images: The media representation of refugees

The paper takes the form of a broad-based exploration of the visual representations of refugees across a range of media forms. Firstly it suggests that these media images have origins in Christian iconography. Then the discussion considers the treatment of forced migration in the fiction film, proposing that cinema representations often conform to the "road movie" genre. A discussion of contemporary issues in the media representation of refugees points to the necessity and direction for future research on the subject.     

The effect of unemployment on children and adolescents

Unemployment is a stressful life event that affects not only the job loser, but also impacts the person's social network. This network includes family members. However, most of the research on unemployment has focused on the effect of job loss on the former worker. This paper reviews this limited literature in order to identify what the potential impact of unemployment is on children. The reason for doing so is to add to the knowledge base that has demonstrated that economic policy decisions have a substantive effect on many aspects of societal health and wellbeing. Information on what these effects are in regard to children and families might serve to inform decision makers in developing appropriate social policy. This information is also an aid that would help professionals in the planning and delivering of needed services.