European labour markets challenges in the context of the “Europe 2020” srategy

The article studies the crisis’ effects on the development of the labour markets in Europe and in Bulgaria, in particular. It outlines the strong decrease in labour demand and high unemployment in a considerable part of the member-countries as well as the decrease in households’ income and the standard of living dynamics. The increasing pressure on public finances under crisis conditions encounters their restricted opportunities, additionally limited by the strict fiscal consideration carried out. The active labour market policies, carried out manage partially and temporary to compensate for the negative effects of the crisis. All this gives rise to challenges facing the European Strategy 2020 goals and calls for reviewing the managerial and financial mechanisms, triggering for its achievement.Europe 2020 strategy, European labour market, unemployment, active labour market policy, public expenditures

Decent work in Bulgaria

This study develops the issue of Decent work in Bulgaria focusing on employment conditions e.g. employment contracts, working time, wages, health and safety at work place, access to training, conciliation of work and family, as well as some specific issues like child labour, in particular. When studying the effects of structural and technological transformations in Bulgaria on decent work environment the authors have paid special attention on the analysis of the interrelations and linkages between the different elements of decent work. Important aspect of the analysis is that of the relevance between some economic and social policies and the achieved progress. The development of socio-economic and political environment in Bulgaria in the period 1995-2006 outlines stable upward trend of improvement in work conditions. In some segments the improvement had been more visible, while in others – not. Irrespective of this, the ongoing debates on the issues and the more attention, paid by policy-makers on it, should be considered as a first step of the progress. As a second step we have to consider the more consistent and relevant character of the applied policies that were introduced since 2000. The study includes two parts. In the first it analyses the trends in the development of the elements of decent work in Bulgaria, numbered above. This analysis is based on the available statistics and in some cases it covers the period 1995-2006, but in others – it does not because of lack of regular statistical observations. The second part of the study deals with some interactions between the elements of decent work. They are analysed taking into consideration their multi-dimensional character and available statistical information. Some of the linkages and trade-offs are metrically assessed (where it is possible), while the others are based on qualitative assumptions and evaluations. As a result the study identifies the main vulnerable groups.employment condition, employment contract, working time, wages, health and safety at work place, access to training, conciliation of work and family

The EU labour market crisis and recovery policies. The Bulgarian response to the crisis

The current study analyzes the status of both the European and the Bulgarian labor markets from the standpoint of the effects of the current crisis, which has affected the supply and demand of labor as well as the employment structure. It further examines the anti-crisis policies, which have been implemented by the EU and the member-countries of the Community as a means to mitigate the negative effects of the present global crisis that has befallen labor markets. It examines the scale of the crisis and the magnitude of its effect on the quantitative and qualitative parameters, which characterize the labor markets in the European countries and in Bulgaria. The current paper comments on the effects of the short-term policies aimed at overcoming the initial crisis-induced shocks. It further underlines the palliative characteristic of those measures and the need for a modern transition towards policies of a structural character. The combination of short-term anti-crisis measures with fundamental structural changes within labor markets is the successful strategy for restructuring labor markets as a means to achieve a higher level of labor productivity alongside a greater degree of competitiveness and dynamic economic growth. The book analyzes the status of both European and Bulgarian labour markets in regards to the effects of the current crisis on the labour supply and demand and employment structure. Further it examines anti-crisis policies implemented by EU member countries as a means to mitigate the negative effects of the current global crisis on the labour markets. The study examines the scale of the crisis and the magnitude of its effect on the quantitative and qualitative parameters characterizing the labour markets in EU countries and Bulgaria. The book comments on the effects of the short-term policies for overcoming the initial crisis-induced shocks. It underlines the palliative characteristic of those measures and the need for a modern transition towards structural policies. The combination of short-term anti-crisis measures and substantial structural changes is a successful strategy for restructuring the labour markets. Thus, a higher labour productivity and higher competitiveness and dynamic economic growth will be achieved.labour market policy; labour demand; labour supply; unemployment; anti-crisis measures

Dependent Elderly and Gender Equality in Bulgaria

The paper describes the current provisions, employment implications and policy options for care for elderly people in Bulgaria. The aging of the Bulgarian population makes this problem quite sensitive for the society and important from policy point of view. That is because the elderly people are more vulnerable to poverty than the other age groups. This prioritizes the accessibility and affordability of the social care services of dependent elderly people. The author describes the system, incl: services provided in institutions; services provided in the society; services provided to elderly people at home by institutions or by society; home care for elderly by family members and other services for disabled people; medical services – meds. As a result the author makes conclusion that the system of social services in Bulgaria is in a process of transformation. Its’ main characteristics are individualization of the services depending on people’s needs, focusing on the social integration of the elderly people in the society, delegating financial resources and providing services depending on the local demand. Different programs, finance by EFS and other donors, are available and support the national budget in developing social services for elderly people. Summarizing the progress of the reforms, we have to say that today the mentioned targets are at different stage of their achievements, and the care for elderly people is presented by a set of social services provided in the community and in the family, as well as by services provided in institutions. The providers of the services include public and private agents, non-governmental organizations, etc. The financing of the elderly care services rely on local, national, international funds and donations. The study of the effects of the ongoing reforms on the quality and quantity of provided services is based not on systematic but mainly on episodic information. However, there are evidences that the quality of the provided services has to be further improved, and there are some services, the demand for which is higher than their supply. A relatively weak point in the system is the human capacity, both in volume and quality. The interest of the new generations to enter this sector is low, there is a lack of motivation due to the low prestige and payment, there are limited opportunities for career development, etc. The social care for elderly people is a feminized sector, and many women employed in the sector have left it and emigrated abroad. Bulgaria is a source country of good quality personnel, who prefer to work abroad because of the better payment

Targeting Youth Employment Policy in Bulgaria

Youth unemployment and in particular long-term youth unemployment in Bulgaria is much higher than the EU average. Low flows out of unemployment into a job, especially for the least educated and qualified young people residing in peripheral regions, are the principal source of long-term unemployment amongst young people. Evidence based on various data sources suggests on one hand that the most disadvantaged segments of the young population are left with two equally unsatisfactory alternatives: working in the informal sector and thus, in practice, often permanently withdrawing from the labour force, or emigrating. On the other hand, employment policies face significant financial and institutional constraints. Increasingly, with rising overall unemployment, passive policy is absorbing an increasing proportion of expenditure on labour market policy to the detriment of active policies. Moreover, important segments of young people are being bypassed by those active measures that do exist. An appropriate response requires action at the level of the education system as well as a more extensive and more effective active labour market policy. This paper concludes with some suggestions as to the way in which such policies might be developed

Gender Segregation on the Labour Market: Roots, Implications and Policy Responses in Bulgaria

The author outlines that gender segregation in employment are relatively new for Bulgaria, and there are not many studies on the problem. The analysis on sectoral and occupational structure indicates that gender segregation exists and deepens over the years. The occupational segregation over the years has increased both for high and low level occupations Women’s access to certain occupations, e.g. legislators, senior officials and managers’ positions, seems to be limited, while they are over-represented among other positions, e.g. professionals. The occupational segregation over the years has increased both for high and low level occupations. Being a professional means relatively high level of education, which implies that the level of education is not the factor that impedes women’s promotion to higher occupational positions. Meanwhile, among employed people with elementary occupation women are twice less than men despite the upward trends. All this points out the need for more detailed studies of the link between the educational level of the genders and their occupational distribution. Another conclusion concerns the over-representation of women among service workers and shop and market sales workers. This is a sector with relatively lower level of payment compared with the average for the country, which outlines a gender pay gap. As pointed above, women are better educated and in many cases their skill level (including education) is higher compared with the work they do. This means that women compromise with their skill level when accepting a job with lower skill request. A reasonable question is why do they do it? The reliability of the data the analysis is based on is an important question, which should not be neglected, since the gender distribution by occupations and sectors is based only on available official data and excludes employed people in the so-called “unregistered economic activities”. In transition countries, and Bulgaria in particular, the percentage of employed in the “unregistered/grey sector” is not low, since according to same authors it represents about 1/3 of the registered employment. The agricultural sector is one, where unregistered employment is reported to be high. Thus, it seems not very reliable that only 1/3 of employed in agriculture are women and the other 2/3 – men. Many women are engaged in the sector but are not registered as agricultural workers. One last conclusion concerns the active policy, which has to better balance the gender dissemination between occupations and sectors. The deepening of the occupational and sectoral imbalances in the period 2001-2006 could mean that occupational and sectoral segregation have not been subject to a relevant policy or to any policy at all or that the applied policies were not effective

The Provision of Childcare Services in Bulgaria

This paper describes the organization system of childcare services in Bulgaria from the point of vies of it’s availability, quality of services, affordability. The author draw out conclusions that the reforms of the childcare system is still in its’ initial stage as far as types of services and especially quality is concerned. Further the author analysis the effects of the childcare on the labour market in vies of inclusion of young women with children in the labour market. Different forms of active labour market policies are presented so as to describe the policy issues of the problem with participation in the labour market of women with small children

Bulgarian labour mobility during the transition to a market economy

The globalisation and the intensive economic and social integration incredibly activate people’s mobility. Bulgaria has been facing migration problems with the political, economical and social transformation since 1990, which completely changed the labour mobility environment. As a result, migration flows increase significantly. This fact raises new problems as well as a need for new policies

The Bulgarian Anti-Crisis Measures and Their Effectiveness

This paper analyzes the state of the Bulgarian labour market from the standpoint of the effects of the current crisis, which started in 2009 and is still in force. It examines the implemented anti-crisis policies, trying to mitigate the negative effects of the depressed demand on labour market and unemployment, in particular. It further comments the short term effects of the anti-crisis policies aimed at overcoming the initial crisis-induces shocks. It underlines the need of further steps in the anti-crisis polices concerning the needed structural changes in the economy

The Bulgarian Anti-Crisis Measures and Their Effectiveness

This paper analyzes the state of the Bulgarian labour market from the standpoint of the effects of the current crisis, which started in 2009 and is still in force. It examines the implemented anti-crisis policies, trying to mitigate the negative effects of the depressed demand on labour market and unemployment, in particular. It further comments the short term effects of the anti-crisis policies aimed at overcoming the initial crisis-induces shocks. It underlines the need of further steps in the anti-crisis polices concerning the needed structural changes in the economy