Pub Date : 2024-03-13DOI: 10.1177/13882627241236488
Eleni De Becker
This case law report discusses two cases before the European Court of Human Rights and two cases before the European Committee of Social Rights. The first case (Pająk and others v. Poland) concerns the introduction of a lower and different retirement age on the basis of sex for judges of the Polish Constitutional Court. In the case X and others v. Ireland, the ECtHR had to examine the extent to which the residence requirement for child benefits violated Article 14 ECHR, read in conjunction with Article 8 ECHR and Article 1 of the Additional Protocol to the ECHR. Child benefits were paid only to claimants who were fully resident in Ireland, and the applicants, who were awaiting a decision on their residency status, did not fulfil this requirement under Irish law. The collective complaint no. 167/2018 (Sindacato autonomo Pensionati Or.S.A. v. Italy) concerned an alleged violation of Article 12 (3) ESC due to the total or partial suspension of the automatic indexation of a large share of pensions in 2011. The measure was extended in 2015 and revised in 2018, taking into account the position of particularly vulnerable persons. In the last case (collective complaint no. 185/2019, European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) v. Belgium), the applicants argued that their right to social assistance had been violated, as they had not received social assistance benefits following a police investigation. The ECSR did not go along with the applicants’ claim.
{"title":"Overview of recent cases before the European Court of Human Rights and the European Committee of Social Rights (June 2023 – December 2023)","authors":"Eleni De Becker","doi":"10.1177/13882627241236488","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13882627241236488","url":null,"abstract":"This case law report discusses two cases before the European Court of Human Rights and two cases before the European Committee of Social Rights. The first case (Pająk and others v. Poland) concerns the introduction of a lower and different retirement age on the basis of sex for judges of the Polish Constitutional Court. In the case X and others v. Ireland, the ECtHR had to examine the extent to which the residence requirement for child benefits violated Article 14 ECHR, read in conjunction with Article 8 ECHR and Article 1 of the Additional Protocol to the ECHR. Child benefits were paid only to claimants who were fully resident in Ireland, and the applicants, who were awaiting a decision on their residency status, did not fulfil this requirement under Irish law. The collective complaint no. 167/2018 (Sindacato autonomo Pensionati Or.S.A. v. Italy) concerned an alleged violation of Article 12 (3) ESC due to the total or partial suspension of the automatic indexation of a large share of pensions in 2011. The measure was extended in 2015 and revised in 2018, taking into account the position of particularly vulnerable persons. In the last case (collective complaint no. 185/2019, European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) v. Belgium), the applicants argued that their right to social assistance had been violated, as they had not received social assistance benefits following a police investigation. The ECSR did not go along with the applicants’ claim.","PeriodicalId":44670,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Social Security","volume":"126 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140147149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-21DOI: 10.1177/13882627241234144
Kristina Balenović
{"title":"Book Review: Handbook on Migration and Ageing by Sandra Torres and Alistair Hunter","authors":"Kristina Balenović","doi":"10.1177/13882627241234144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13882627241234144","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44670,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Social Security","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139954780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-21DOI: 10.1177/13882627241233265
Marthe Delodder
{"title":"Book Review: The lighthouse function of social law. Proceedings of the ISLSSL XIV European regional congress Ghent 2023 by Yves Jorens","authors":"Marthe Delodder","doi":"10.1177/13882627241233265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13882627241233265","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44670,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Social Security","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139954566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-21DOI: 10.1177/13882627241234256
Primož Rataj
{"title":"Book Review: Youth Employment Insecurity and Pension Adequacy by Dirk Hofäcker and Kati Kuitto","authors":"Primož Rataj","doi":"10.1177/13882627241234256","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13882627241234256","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44670,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Social Security","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139954564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-20DOI: 10.1177/13882627241231955
María Salas Porras
The objective of this study is to offer a snapshot of the level of unemployment protection provided in Spain to self-employed workers and platform economy workers, compared to employed workers affiliated with the general regime. This allows us to reflect on the convergent and divergent aspects of the protection provided to the two groups, as well as the greater or lesser proximity to the levels of protection indicated by the EU. Thus, the study is structured in three points: the protection afforded to the various groups and the differences in terms of the cessation of activity and unemployment benefit; some of the most characteristic aspects of these two types of unemployment protection; the financing of the cessation of activity benefit and the creation of an alternative protection mechanism as key points in the current Spanish political debate. Our final thoughts are presented in the conclusions.
{"title":"Unemployment protection for self-employed and platform workers: A study of the Spanish case","authors":"María Salas Porras","doi":"10.1177/13882627241231955","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13882627241231955","url":null,"abstract":"The objective of this study is to offer a snapshot of the level of unemployment protection provided in Spain to self-employed workers and platform economy workers, compared to employed workers affiliated with the general regime. This allows us to reflect on the convergent and divergent aspects of the protection provided to the two groups, as well as the greater or lesser proximity to the levels of protection indicated by the EU. Thus, the study is structured in three points: the protection afforded to the various groups and the differences in terms of the cessation of activity and unemployment benefit; some of the most characteristic aspects of these two types of unemployment protection; the financing of the cessation of activity benefit and the creation of an alternative protection mechanism as key points in the current Spanish political debate. Our final thoughts are presented in the conclusions.","PeriodicalId":44670,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Social Security","volume":"74 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139954803","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-02-20DOI: 10.1177/13882627241228860
Thomas Pfalz
The article describes the protection against unemployment for self-employed persons and platform workers under Austrian law. The aim is to provide an overview of the respective protection systems. Interpretation issues regarding individual provisions are not discussed in detail, as they are unlikely to yield insights for a comparative study. The article concludes with a brief summary of the current policy debate in Austria.
{"title":"Unemployment protection for self-employed persons and platform workers in Austria","authors":"Thomas Pfalz","doi":"10.1177/13882627241228860","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13882627241228860","url":null,"abstract":"The article describes the protection against unemployment for self-employed persons and platform workers under Austrian law. The aim is to provide an overview of the respective protection systems. Interpretation issues regarding individual provisions are not discussed in detail, as they are unlikely to yield insights for a comparative study. The article concludes with a brief summary of the current policy debate in Austria.","PeriodicalId":44670,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Social Security","volume":"120 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-02-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139954568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-01-09DOI: 10.1177/13882627231224664
Irena Ewa Lipowicz
{"title":"Book Review: Human Dignity and Democracy in Europe. Synergies, Tensions and Crises by Daniel Bedford, Catherine Dupré, Gábor Halmai and Panos Kapotas","authors":"Irena Ewa Lipowicz","doi":"10.1177/13882627231224664","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13882627231224664","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44670,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Social Security","volume":"41 40","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-01-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139442314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-19DOI: 10.1177/13882627231221045
Karel van den Bosch, Tanja Kirn, N. Kump, Philippe Liégeois, Amílcar Moreira, Nada Stropnik, Mikkel Barslund, Vincent Vergnat, G. Dekkers
Informal care is often accompanied by a reduction or abandonment of professional activity by the caregiver. Therefore, caregiving may be associated with a lower pension for the former caregiver than for people without care obligations. There is a large gender difference in informal care responsibilities, and this may contribute to the gender pension gap. As the impact of care-related labour market decisions depends on the design of the pension system, we carry out a cross-country comparison, in which we analyse the impact of care obligations in countries with high (Luxembourg), middle (Liechtenstein, Belgium, Portugal) and low (Slovenia) gender pension gaps. Using typical-case simulation models, we examine how the impact of care-related events is mediated by pension rules, given women's labour market decisions. To what extent does working part time or interrupting one’s career at the age of 30 or 54 reduce the later pension benefit? How are these losses mitigated by pension credits that are conditional on caregiving? We find that the mitigating effects are generally strongest in Belgium, followed by Luxembourg and Slovenia. Such credits hardly exist in Portugal, while in Liechtenstein they have only a small impact. However, the consequences of either working part time or interrupting work can also be mitigated via general rules in the system that are unrelated to caregiving (such as in Portugal and Liechtenstein). They can, on the other hand, be aggravated by the existence of higher accrual rates for individuals who extend their careers, as in Luxembourg and Slovenia.
{"title":"The impact of taking up care tasks on pensions: Results of typical-case simulations for several European countries","authors":"Karel van den Bosch, Tanja Kirn, N. Kump, Philippe Liégeois, Amílcar Moreira, Nada Stropnik, Mikkel Barslund, Vincent Vergnat, G. Dekkers","doi":"10.1177/13882627231221045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13882627231221045","url":null,"abstract":"Informal care is often accompanied by a reduction or abandonment of professional activity by the caregiver. Therefore, caregiving may be associated with a lower pension for the former caregiver than for people without care obligations. There is a large gender difference in informal care responsibilities, and this may contribute to the gender pension gap. As the impact of care-related labour market decisions depends on the design of the pension system, we carry out a cross-country comparison, in which we analyse the impact of care obligations in countries with high (Luxembourg), middle (Liechtenstein, Belgium, Portugal) and low (Slovenia) gender pension gaps. Using typical-case simulation models, we examine how the impact of care-related events is mediated by pension rules, given women's labour market decisions. To what extent does working part time or interrupting one’s career at the age of 30 or 54 reduce the later pension benefit? How are these losses mitigated by pension credits that are conditional on caregiving? We find that the mitigating effects are generally strongest in Belgium, followed by Luxembourg and Slovenia. Such credits hardly exist in Portugal, while in Liechtenstein they have only a small impact. However, the consequences of either working part time or interrupting work can also be mitigated via general rules in the system that are unrelated to caregiving (such as in Portugal and Liechtenstein). They can, on the other hand, be aggravated by the existence of higher accrual rates for individuals who extend their careers, as in Luxembourg and Slovenia.","PeriodicalId":44670,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Social Security","volume":" 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-12-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138962952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-28DOI: 10.1177/13882627231214546
Katharina Bohnenberger
The social impacts of the climate crisis and the need for societal transformation to achieve climate goals require integrated research and design of environmental policy and social security. The article analyses the current state of research on eco-social policy and sustainable welfare. Based on a systematic literature review covering more than 1000 publications, the article identifies 20 research topics. Strong research progress has been made on social compensation for climate policies; economic inequality in the climate crisis; energy use patterns in housing, mobility, and nutrition; political conditions for eco-social policy; and varieties in eco-social country regimes. Future research activities should focus on the five bottlenecks detected in the emerging research topics: the reduction in the environmental burden through a change in demand structures by the welfare state; growth-independence of social security; support for socio-ecological transformations by altered financing of welfare states; eco-social insurance and institutions; and ecological mainstreaming in the domains of social security. Discussing the explanatory factors for past research activity and sketching the elements of sustainable welfare states, the article concludes with the historical importance of including ecological concerns in social security.
{"title":"Peaks and gaps in eco-social policy and sustainable welfare: A systematic literature map of the research landscape","authors":"Katharina Bohnenberger","doi":"10.1177/13882627231214546","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13882627231214546","url":null,"abstract":"The social impacts of the climate crisis and the need for societal transformation to achieve climate goals require integrated research and design of environmental policy and social security. The article analyses the current state of research on eco-social policy and sustainable welfare. Based on a systematic literature review covering more than 1000 publications, the article identifies 20 research topics. Strong research progress has been made on social compensation for climate policies; economic inequality in the climate crisis; energy use patterns in housing, mobility, and nutrition; political conditions for eco-social policy; and varieties in eco-social country regimes. Future research activities should focus on the five bottlenecks detected in the emerging research topics: the reduction in the environmental burden through a change in demand structures by the welfare state; growth-independence of social security; support for socio-ecological transformations by altered financing of welfare states; eco-social insurance and institutions; and ecological mainstreaming in the domains of social security. Discussing the explanatory factors for past research activity and sketching the elements of sustainable welfare states, the article concludes with the historical importance of including ecological concerns in social security.","PeriodicalId":44670,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Social Security","volume":"14 1","pages":"328 - 346"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-11-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139225621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-11-14DOI: 10.1177/13882627231214547
Kata Hidasi, Tímea Venczel, M. Antal
Working time reduction (WTR) refers to an increasingly popular group of eco-social policies, with various potential implications for social security and sustainable welfare depending on the details of implementation. Despite the growing number of international examples, WTRs constitute a countertrend in Hungary where the government aims to create a ‘work-based society’. In this context, we investigate whether and how companies launch WTRs, and study their effects. Our approach is comparative and explorative. We draw on interviews with managers of 10 companies to understand the motivations behind WTRs. In addition, we use 34 interviews and two focus groups conducted at four companies, considering impacts on employees’ workload and working conditions. We show that the drivers, mechanisms and impacts of WTRs differ by company size. There is far more diversity among smaller companies, where the attitudes of managers and personal relationships are decisive. Larger companies either choose low-risk WTRs that offer low gains, or target further growth and potentially cause a reduction of sectoral output while maximising profit. The latter may be the first example of profit-driven degrowth in the literature. Insights generated here can be useful to understand the potential reasons for, and barriers to, a more widespread adoption of WTRs, as well as the role of positive and negative impacts on workers in this process. We argue that this is important not only for social and economic outcomes, but also for the environment, since WTRs are necessary for a precautionary approach to sustainability. We highlight the limitations of current WTRs, in order to catalyse thinking about more radical variants.
{"title":"Working time reduction: Employers’ perspectives and eco-social implications – ten cases from Hungary","authors":"Kata Hidasi, Tímea Venczel, M. Antal","doi":"10.1177/13882627231214547","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/13882627231214547","url":null,"abstract":"Working time reduction (WTR) refers to an increasingly popular group of eco-social policies, with various potential implications for social security and sustainable welfare depending on the details of implementation. Despite the growing number of international examples, WTRs constitute a countertrend in Hungary where the government aims to create a ‘work-based society’. In this context, we investigate whether and how companies launch WTRs, and study their effects. Our approach is comparative and explorative. We draw on interviews with managers of 10 companies to understand the motivations behind WTRs. In addition, we use 34 interviews and two focus groups conducted at four companies, considering impacts on employees’ workload and working conditions. We show that the drivers, mechanisms and impacts of WTRs differ by company size. There is far more diversity among smaller companies, where the attitudes of managers and personal relationships are decisive. Larger companies either choose low-risk WTRs that offer low gains, or target further growth and potentially cause a reduction of sectoral output while maximising profit. The latter may be the first example of profit-driven degrowth in the literature. Insights generated here can be useful to understand the potential reasons for, and barriers to, a more widespread adoption of WTRs, as well as the role of positive and negative impacts on workers in this process. We argue that this is important not only for social and economic outcomes, but also for the environment, since WTRs are necessary for a precautionary approach to sustainability. We highlight the limitations of current WTRs, in order to catalyse thinking about more radical variants.","PeriodicalId":44670,"journal":{"name":"European Journal of Social Security","volume":"33 1","pages":"426 - 444"},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2023-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139277910","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}