Conceptual controversies: comparing the quality of work and welfare for men and women across societies

This paper critically examines a range of typologies used in comparative employment and welfare state research. The approaches examined include the societal effect, varieties of capitalism, welfare state regimes and benchmarking approaches, and their feminist critiques. The article concludes by assessing the critical merits and implicit assumptions of using such typologies for comparative research on the quality of work and welfare for men and women

Theoretical considerations in cross-national employment research

This article critically reviews a range of theoretical approaches to cross-national employment research. It classifies these studies in terms of universal and culturalist perspectives. Universalists tend to ignore the concept of culture, or at best acknowledge it as a marginal phenomenon or additional variable. Culturalists, on the other hand, have sought to integrate the concept of culture into their analysis at a socio-economic and institutional level as well as at the psychological level of the individual. The emphasis on similarities between countries tends to lead to a universalist approach, whilst the emphasis on difference is often supported by a more culturalist perspective. This review highlights that the shortcomings of these approaches in terms of accounting for change and the co-existence of similarity and diversity. Further more, these studies, for the most part, are blind to the affects and effects of gender on industrial organisation and employment practices. -- In dem Beitrag werden theoretische Ansätze für international vergleichende Beschäftigungsstudien kritisch überprüft. Die Studien werden nach universalistischen und kulturalistischen Ansätzen unterschieden. Universalisten tendieren dazu, die Kategorie Kultur zu ignorieren oder sie bestenfalls als ein marginales Phänomen oder eine zusätzliche Variable zu akzeptieren. Kulturalisten auf der anderen Seite haben versucht, in ihren Analysen das Kultur-Konzept auf einer sozioökonomischen, institutionellen und individualpsychologischen Ebene zu integrieren.

What future for gender equality policy in the UK after Brexit?

The evolution of gender equality policies in the UK prior to, and since, entering the Common Market in the 1970s illustrates the distinctive characteristics of the UK employment system. This can be understood as a movement between historically embedded voluntarism and periods of statutory compliance. European influence on British policies has been filtered through the interests and interaction of four key sets of actors: governments, the legal system, employers and unions. An historical analysis of gender equality policies suggests that the potential future consequences of Brexit are likely to be patterns of continuity, change and unintended consequences. Continuity indicates that existing regulations will persist, until they are challenged. Change will see a removal of appeal to EU-level adjudication. Some unintended consequences may emerge related to the impact of migration patterns and the behaviour of large-scale companies working in the UK which could have unexpected positive outcomes. The analysis in this paper suggests that this will remain a contested terrain

Ethnicity, gender and household effects on becoming NEET: an intersectional analysis

Surprisingly little attention has been given to an integrated understanding of the interaction between ethnicity, gender and parental household’s employment status affecting young people’s educational and labour market outcomes. Drawing on data from Understanding Society, the article compares youth probabilities of becoming NEET (not in employment, education or training) in the UK, focusing on the outcomes for young men and women from different ethnic groups and from four types of ‘households of origin’: workless, one-earner, single-parent-earner and two-earner. The article shows that while, on average, young people with workless parents have a higher likelihood of becoming NEET compared to individuals from households with at least one employed parent, this does not apply universally to all ethnic minority groups, nor equally to young men and women. Having workless parents is much less detrimental for second-generation Indian and African men, and for second-generation Bangladeshi men and women, than for white British individuals. An intersectional analysis illustrates the universal and differentiated effects of disadvantage among youth

Regulating work and welfare of the future: Towards a new gender contract?

This paper starts off by briefly considering some of the problems of future studies; it discusses how the origins and principles of the systems of regulation and security have generated different employment systems in Europe. The concept of employment systems allows us to identify how the future of work may well be managed in different ways according to the capacity and constraints of national and European actors. The paper focuses on the characteristics and changes in European regulatory systems of labour and social welfare. Two key developments are identified in these areas. First there are trends to decentralise collective bargaining and to encourage a trade off between labour flexibility and employment security. Second, there have been trends towards a decentralisation and outsourcing of state monopolies and attempts to develop new forms of caring. The prospects these trends imply for regulating the work of the future are discussed in relation to the development of a new social and gender contract. --

Regulation work and welfare of the future: towards a new social contract or a new gender contract?

"This paper starts off by briefly considering some of the problems of future studies; it discusses how the origins and principles of the systems of regulation and security have generated different employment systems in Europe. The concept of employment systems allows us to identify how the future of work may well be managed in different ways according to the capacity and constraints of national and European actors. The paper focuses on the characteristics and changes in European regulatory systems of labour and social welfare. Two key developments are identified in these areas. First there are trends to decentralise collective bargaining and to encourage a trade off between labour flexibility and employment security. Second, there have been trends towards a decentralisation and outsourcing of state monopolies and attempts to develop new forms of caring. The prospects these trends imply for regulating the work of the future are discussed in relation to the development of a new social and gender contract." (author's abstract

How Local is Hospital Treatment? An Exploratory Analysis of Public/Private Variation in Location of Treatment in Irish Acute Public Hospitals. ESRI WP237. May 2008

This paper undertakes an exploratory examination of the factors that affect where patients receive treatment from Irish acute public hospitals, with particular regard to the influence of patients’ public/private status. National univariate statistics indicate that private discharged patients are slightly more likely to be treated outside their county of residence than their public counterparts. A multivariate model necessarily estimated at the county level provides indirect support for this finding for the category of day patients, but not for planned and emergency in-patients. The effects of the other patient characteristics also varied across the three models, although there was consistency in the impact of supply-side factors, such as the type and availability of services. As there appears to be some tendency for private day patients to have a slightly greater propensity to travel for acute public hospital treatment, further research is required to identify the reasons for this, as well as the consequences for public and private patients resident in the source and destination counties

Beschäftigung, Arbeitszeit und Übergangsarbeitsmärkte in vergleichender Perspektive

In diesem Artikel konzentrieren wir uns auf die vergleichende Perspektive bei der Anwendung des Konzepts der Übergangsarbeitsmärkte auf Arbeitszeitregime in verschiedenen Ländern. Eingangs untersuchen wir Tendenzen bei der Regulierung und Verteilung der Normalarbeitszeit in ausgewählten Ländern seit Mitte der achtziger Jahre. Diese Analyse betont die besonderen Wege, mit denen der Staat und die Sozialpartner die Reregulierung der Arbeitszeit anstreben. Um diese Veränderungen zu interpretieren und zu erklären, beziehen wir uns auf frühere international vergleichende Forschung zu industriellen Beziehungen und Sozialpolitik. Indem wir den Schwerpunkt auf bestimmte Arbeitsmarkt- und Haushaltsstrukturen legen, veranschaulichen wir die Anreize und Hindernisse bei der Herstellung des Übergangs zwischen verschiedenen Beschäftigungsformen in einer Reihe von Ländern. Der Artikel endet mit einer kurzen Diskussion der Strategien, die die Arbeitsmarktübergänge und die Entwicklung von Übergangsarbeitsmärkten unter höchst verschiedenen institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen beeinflussen und setzt sich mit der Frage auseinander, wie sich diese auf die Umstrukturierung der Beschäftigung auswirken. -- In this article we set out to examine how the potential for transitional labour markets could be developed through the use of flexible working time practices in a range of European countries. First we examine the trends in the regulation and distribution of working time since the mid 1980s, and the role of the social partners in this process. We identify three distinct types which we label: negotiated flexibility, statist flexibility and externally constrained voluntarism. To interpret and explain these changes we draw on earlier cross-national comparative research from industrial relations and social policy. By focussing on particular labour market characteristics and household structures we illustrate the incentives and obstacles to making transitions between different employment statuses. The article concludes with a short discussion of the type of policies that influence labour market transitions and the potential for transitional labour markets.

Screen time, mute, mixed messages, and panic: : An international auto-ethnographic study of knowledge workers during a pandemic

Emma Russell, Constantin Blome, Margherita Bussi, Heejung Chung, Hakan Johansson, Margarita Leon, Janine Leschke, Lucia Mytna-Kurekova, Chiara Ruffa, Mi Ah Schoyen, Matthias Thürer, Marge Unt, Rachel Verdin. I gratefully acknowledge my colleagues who participated in this project and the Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (Digit)Peer reviewe

Youth transitions and job quality: How long should they wait and what difference does the family make?

This chapter explores how youth unemployment, discontinuous employment, and working in low-quality jobs affect individuals’ subsequent occupational conditions. Using cross-sectional and longitudinal EU-SILC data (2005–2012) for five countries, the chapter distinguishes between different types of good and bad jobs, examining the effect of family background on successful transitions. Findings show that young people from families of higher social class have better chances of making transitions into good-quality jobs than do youth from lower class families. Securing a good entry job is crucial to achieving a successful outcome, whereas experiencing either brief periods of unemployment or employment continuity has limited effects. These mechanisms are evident across all countries considered. The findings reinforce established knowledge on patterns of stratification, evidencing a direct channel of social transmission of inequalities through education and an indirect channel through better labor market entries