Yuppie Kvetch? Work-life Conflict and Social Class in Western Europe. WP239. May 2008

Recent debates on time-use suggest that there is an inverse relationship between time poverty and income poverty (Aguiar and Hurst, 2007), with Hammermesh and Lee (2007) suggesting much time poverty is ‘yuppie kvetch’ or ‘complaining’. Gershuny (2005) argues that busyness is the ‘badge of honour’: being busy is now a positive, privileged position and it is high status people who work long hours and feel busy

Work Rich, Time Poor? Time-Use of Women and Men in Ireland

Are we running out of time? This paper uses data from a recently completed time-use survey in Ireland to consider whether the recent employment growth has led to high workloads, time-pressure and a lack of free time. We examine levels of total committed time, that is, time spent on employment/education, unpaid work (caring and household work) and travel, across different groups in the population. We find high workloads among the employed and those caring for young children and adults. High levels of committed time are found to be associated with greater subjective feelings of time-pressure. Our evidence suggests that recent employment growth is likely to have contributed to time poverty and feelings of time-pressure.

Work-life conflict in Europe. ESRI Research Bulletin 202101 February 2021.

This bulletin summarises key findings on factors associated with work-life conflict in Europe from a body of research, mainly using large representative surveys, over the past 20 years

Perceived Group Discrimination among Polish Migrants to Western Europe: Comparing Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and Ireland. ESRI WP502. May 2015

Discrimination is a problem for both minority groups and the societies in which they live. Perceived group discrimination reflects the direct experiences of immigrants but is also an indicator of the wider societal context and its level of social cohesion. This paper draws on new longitudinal survey data to examine perceptions of group discrimination among new Polish immigrants to four Western European countries (Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany). Are there cross-national differences in perceived group discrimination, and how is discrimination related to exposure to, and experiences in, the host country? Perceived discrimination is found to be higher among Polish migrants in the Netherlands in Wave 1 (2011) than in the other three countries; perceptions of discrimination also increased more there between waves of the survey, as well as in the UK. Perceptions of group discrimination are related to some aspects of exposure to the host country (e.g. duration in the country), but are most strongly associated with negative experiences in the host country. Differences in country contexts - attitudinal climate and national discourses - seem to play a strong role in understanding perceived group discrimination among new Polish immigrants in Western Europe

Ethnicity and Nationality in the Irish Labour Market. ESRI Research Series, 2018

This report presents a more in-depth analysis of discrimination in the labour market to ascertain if certain ethnic groups experience higher rates of work related discrimination than others. Using data from the Equality module of the Quarterly National Household Survey and the Labour Force Survey, this report examines if labour market outcomes differed across ethnic groups between 2002 to 2014. It also examines the likelihood of being employed rather than unemployed for different ethnicities, and the grades of employment secured

European Survey Data on Attitudes to Equality and Human Rights Technical Paper. Research Series

This report maps the data available on attitudes to equality and human rights issues in Ireland collected in European surveys over the period 2000 to 2018. These surveys provide a rich source of evidence for researchers and policymakers in Ireland. We identify a total of 1,509 relevant questions from a search of over 125 attitude surveys. These questions are categorised according to the groups and topics addressed. We find that attitudes towards minority ethnic/nationality groups, gender/gender roles and social welfare recipients are the most widely covered. Questions on attitudes towards religious minorities, age groups/ageism, family status, disability and sexual orientation are much less common. Moreover, while the frequency of attitude questions relating to sexual orientation has increased over the period, questions on age and disability groups have declined. Within these equality groups the surveys cover a range of topics including social distance, social contact, tolerance and policy preferences

Equality and Discrimination: Lessons from a Research Programme and a Conference. ESRI Research Bulletin 2011/1/1

Despite legislation outlawing discrimination across the EU, inequalities between groups appear to be an enduring feature of Irish and European societies. The extent to which inequality is due to discrimination is a matter of continuing debate and controversy. Accurately measuring discrimination is therefore a crucial yet challenging task. This has been a central focus of a research programme on equality and discrimination carried out by the Economic and Social Research Institute and the Equality Authority since 2006, and was the theme of the conference ‘Making Equality Count’ held in Dublin in June 2010. Drawing on economics, sociology and social psychology, the book from the conference, Making Equality Count, highlights advances that have been made in the measurement of discrimination, as well as the range of evidence that has been accumulated on this topic in recent decades.† Here we give a flavour of the measurement issues and the salient findings from the book.†

POLICY AND PRACTICE TARGETING THE LABOUR MARKET INTEGRATION OF NON-EU NATIONALS IN IRELAND. ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 89 JUNE 2019

Increases in immigration inflows to both the European Union (EU) and Ireland between 2014 and 2016, due in part to the ‘refugee and migrant crisis’, have resulted in an increased focus on integration policies, outcomes and measures, including in the area of labour market integration. Employment is crucial for the integration of migrants into the economic and social life of their host country, so labour market integration is a very important part of integration policy (European Commission, 2016). In recent years, many Member States have updated existing labour market integration policies or have developed new ones. Ireland, like the majority of EU Member States (EMN, 2019), pursues a policy of mainstreaming service provision in the area of integration, with targeted initiatives to meet specific needs. This study first considers labour migration policy, which manages and shapes overall access of non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals to the Irish labour market.1 Under the employment permits system administered by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation (DBEI), non-EEA nationals may apply to access the Irish labour market. The report then looks at specific policies and measures which aim to improve labour market integration for non-EU nationals living in Ireland. The focus is on labour integration measures for regularly staying non-EU nationals with a right to work. Measures specifically targeting non-EEA students, graduates, asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection are beyond the study scope. The effect of general labour market and social policy provision in Ireland on labour market integration is also outside the scope. Examples of public and private sector practices are discussed together with examples of community sector practices that receive public funds

Academic Achievement among Immigrant Children in Irish Primary Schools. ESRI WP512. September 2015

Educational achievement is a key indicator of labour market success and other post-school outcomes. This success is unequally distributed across different groups of children, including those from immigrant backgrounds. The impact of parents’ and their children’s cultural capital on student grades and educational ambitions has been identified in both longitudinal and cross-sectional studies. This paper addresses a gap in research on Ireland by exploring the academic achievement of 9-year-old immigrant children from different national groups using data from the child cohort of the Growing Up in Ireland study. The Irish case is interesting as there was recent substantial immigration of a nationally diverse group of migrants to a school system that was predominantly White, Catholic and Irish. The immigrant ‘penalty’ in English reading achievement varies across national groups, though overall the gap is modest. Financial strain is associated with lower reading achievement, as is attending a disadvantaged school, though these play a limited role in explaining the immigrant penalty in achievement. Social and cultural capital plays a more salient role in understanding national group differences in English reading achievement, particularly for East Europeans, for whom the gap is greatest