Sickness and Disability Schemes in the Netherlands

[Excerpt] Like other Western European countries, the Netherlands has adapted and reformed its social security system since the 1980s. As international competition intensifies, a significant share of industrial production has moved to low-wage countries. The high rate of unemployment that ensued caused a dramatic increase in claims for incapacity benefits and later unemployment benefits. Government spending on social security skyrocketed as a result. Consecutive governments wanted to adapt the system to the trends towards flexibility and individualisation of labour market relations. Their efforts culminated in a complete overhaul of the system in 1987. Government spending on social security decreased after the system was reformed, but the number of benefit claimants continued to rise. By the end of the 1980s, the proportion of non-active members of the labour force had increased substantially, as more and more workers claimed incapacity benefits. Now, along with income protection, prevention and reintegration were being incorporated into the system. Another important new goal was activation (i.e. encouraging participation in the workforce), which reduced social exclusion and strengthened the income position of those on benefits by helping them get back to work. This shifted the focus towards the conduct of all the parties involved: employers and employer organisations, employees and the trade unions, benefit claimants and implementing bodies. The measures taken in this period were of a different nature than the reforms of 1987. The key issue now was to increase each party’s vested interest in reducing social security benefit claims

Short-Term Labour Market Outlook and Key Challenges in G20 Countries

[Excerpt] The latest available forecasts from the IMF and the OECD point to a weak uptick in economic activity in 2013 and 2014. This will continue to hold back short-term employment growth and hinder progress towards the medium-term objective of restoring the employment to working-age population ratio prevailing before the crisis. Persistently high and mainly cyclical unemployment in several G20 countries is heightening the risks of labour market exclusion and structural unemployment. In over half of countries, the share of longterm unemployment in total unemployment remains above its pre-crisis level. Overall slower economic growth in emerging economies in the last 12 months is weighing on the growth of rewarding and productive formal employment and on the pace of decline in working poverty and underemployment. The situation calls for strong and well-designed employment, labour and social protection policies applied in conjunction with supportive macroeconomic policy mixes to address the underlying demand and supply conditions of each economy. Only a few emerging and advanced countries, applying different policy mixes, have sustained or raised employment levels and seen a decline in unemployment and underemployment. In a majority of G20 countries labour market conditions have either improved only marginally or not improved and deteriorated, at times significantly so. This bears heavily on the underlying strength of the recovery

OECD Environmental Performance Reviews – 2nd Cycle (2001-2009)

This report examines Australia’s progress since the previous OECD Environmental Performance Review in 1998 and the extent to which the country is meeting its domestic objectives and international commitments regarding the environment and sustainable development. It also reviews progress in the context of the OECD Environmental Strategy, and compared to the recommendations of the previous OECD review. This book is part of the OECD Environmental Performance Reviews Programme which conducts peer reviews of environmental conditions and progress in each member country. The analyses presented are supported by a broad range of economic and environmental data and lead to recommendations for further environmental and sustainable development progress

Gender and family: conceptual overview

This paper starts from the fact that women receive lower pensions than men on average, and considers policies to address that fact. Women typically have lower wages than men, a greater likelihood of part-time work and more career breaks, and thus generally a less complete contribution record. In addition, pension age may be lower for women and annuities may be priced using separate life tables for women. The paper looks at three strategic ameliorative policy directions: policies intended to increase the size and duration of women’s earnings and hence improve their contribution records; policies to redirect resources within the pension system, including for survivors and after divorce; and ways of boosting women’s pensions with resources from outside the pension system