News & Press

The Access to Work programme (AtW) has been operating in the UK since 1994 and is designed for people with long-term health conditions and impairments who require additional support to take up work or to do their job. It aims to reduce inequalities between disabled people and non-disabled people in the workplace by removing practical barriers to work.

The current difficult economic climate has made an impact all around the EU – as we are seeing in this issue of employment studies – causing businesses to close and resulting in workers losing their jobs. The way in which governments, public agencies, social partners and other involved parties are managing this differs throughout the EU.

With a general election on the horizon, a period of public spending cuts ahead and the effects of the recession putting the UK’s welfare system under increased strain, the fourth IES policy conference provided a timely opportunity to draw together labour market experts to discuss ‘whither goes welfare-to-work?’

The world financial crisis of 2008 and the ensuing recession has led the EU to rethink its approach and priorities in relation to employment and labour market policies. We review the main activities and communications from the EU institutions over the past year, as policymakers try to mitigate the employment impact of the recession and try to support EU member states in their efforts to pursue active labour market policies.

IES has, since 2006, been involved in a consortium led by Austrian partners (ÖSB Consulting) to deliver a programme of ‘Peer Reviews in Social Inclusion’, on behalf of the European Commission (since 2008, the Peer Review programme has been extended to cover the area of ‘social protection’, ie policies towards pensions, healthcare and long-term care).

How to ensure that Europe’s economy is in a fit state to face up to the future challenges of alternative energy sourcing and the demands of climate change is an issue that has been steadily gaining importance on the political and social policy agenda in recent years. The future green economy is something that touches on many social and employment policy areas, including labour market planning, skills and competence building, and the protection of vulnerable social groups. In this article, we review the main findings of recent IES research looking at EU policy in this area.