Identifying the Main Determinants of Part-Time Employment in EU Countries

The article analyses the prevalence of part-time employment in different EU countries with a focus on the factors affecting the rate of part-time employment across the EU. Based on the literature review, a distinction is made between three groups of factors that are relevant for the rate of part-time employment, in particular, cyclical factors, political and institutional factors, and structural factors. The article analyses how these factors influence part-time employment rates in EU countries. The linear regression analysis based on EU-28 macroeconomic data for the period of 2007-2018 has shown that all three groups of determinants (i.e. cyclical, political and institutional as well as structural factors) affect the rate of part-time employment in the EU-28. Part-time employment is a complex phenomenon which depends on a number of factors. However, the regression analysis has found that the following political and institutional as well as structural independent variables are also significant predictors of part-time employment rates in EU Member States (EU-28): average annual wages, the tax rate on low wage earners, expenditures on children and family benefits as a percentage of gross domestic product, trade union density, and the activity rate of people aged 15-24 and 55-64. Cyclical factors (the unemployment rate in Model (1) and real GDP per capita in Model (2)) have also been found to have a significant effect on part-time employment in EU-28 countries

Ilgalaikio nedarbo tendencijų ir regioninių skirtumų įvertinimas Lietuvoje

[full article and abstract in Lithuanian; abstract in English] This article is based on the results of the project ‘Regional disparities of welfare in Lithuania’ (project number GER-005/2017) of the National Research Programme ‘Welfare society’. The project was funded by the Lithuanian Research Council. The aim of the publication is to analyse the trends of long-term unemployment in Lithuania, as well as to assess differences in the context of other EU countries. The main priority of this publication is the assessment of regional differences of long-term unemployment in Lithuania – the data are analysed in urban and rural areas, as well as in different municipalities of Lithuania. In the course of the analysis, data from Statistics Lithuania, Eurostat and Employment Service were used.  [straipsnis ir santrauka lietuvių kalba; santrauka anglų kalba] Straipsnis parengtas remiantis Nacionalinės mokslo programos „Gerovės visuomenė“ 2017–2018 m. projekto „Regioniniai gerovės skirtumai Lietuvoje“ rezultatais (projekto Nr. GER-005/2017). Projektą finansuoja Lietuvos mokslo taryba. Publikacijoje vertinamos ilgalaikio nedarbo tendencijos šalyje ir bedarbių skaičiaus raida pagal nedarbo trukmę, analizuojami ilgalaikio nedarbo lygio skirtumai Lietuvoje ir lyginami su ES šalimis. Bene esminiai šios publikacijos prioritetai – regioninių ilgalaikio nedarbo skirtumų įvertinimas bei kaimo ir miesto gyventojų ilgalaikio nedarbo skirtumų kaitos analizė. Atsižvelgiant į informacijos disponavimo ir jos palyginamumo galimybes, tyrimo eigoje pasinaudota Lietuvos statistikos departamento (LSD), Europos Sąjungos statistikos tarnybos (Eurostato) bei Užimtumo tarnybos1 prie Lietuvos Respublikos socialinės apsaugos ir darbo ministerijos (Užimtumo tarnybos) duomenimis

Minimum wages in 2023 : annual review

Aquesta publicació s'elabora a partir de les contribucions de cadascú dels membres nacionals que integren la Network of Eurofound Correspondents. Pel cas d'Espanya la contribució ha estat realitzada per l'Oscar Molina (veure annex Network of Eurofound Correspondents)The 2023 annual review of minimum wages was prepared in the context of unprecedented inflation across Europe. While this led to hefty increases in nominal wage rates in many countries, it was in many cases not enough to maintain workers' purchasing power. Based on developments over the last decade, this report shows that, overall, minimum wage earners in nearly all countries saw their purchasing power rising, the gap between their wages and average wages narrowing, and to some degree growth exceeding labour productivity development

The Impact of social transfers on poverty reduction in EU countries

Available studies indicate a strong negative correlation between poverty and social expenditures in EU countries. It means that the country’s at-risk-of-poverty rate tends to erode with increasing social expenditure. However, the studies have demonstrated that the impact of government spending on poverty may vary according to the sector of spending, how well it is targeted, and the way in which it is fi nanced. Some countries manage to achieve a rather signifi cant poverty rate reduction even with relatively low, in the context of other Member States, social expenditure (percentage of GDP). This suggests that in order to reduce poverty rates, it is important to consider not only the amount allocated to social spending, but also the areas the social transfers are channelled to. The article aims to analyse how the composition and the extent of social spending/transfers may affect poverty reduction in EU countries. The analysis showed that social protection transfers reduce the percentage of people atrisk- of-poverty in all countries, however, to a very different extent. Regression analysis demonstrated that social exclusion and family/ children expenditure was found to be the most important predictor for a relative antipoverty effect of social transfers: even a small percentage increase in such expenditure allows quite a signifi cant increase in the relative antipoverty effect of social transfers

Kūno kultūros mokytojų samprata apie sveikatos ugdymą mokykloje

Research background and hypothesis. Health education (HE) is integrated in various modules especially in biology and physical education (PE). Therefore the quality and effectiveness of integrated health education should be analyzed systematically. Research aim. The aim of the study was to examine PE teachers’ perception of health education and social support for HE at their schools. Research methods. The data of convenience sample consisting of 70 physical education teachers (62% were women) from one of the largest Lithuanian cities were analyzed. Respondents ranged in age from 25 to 69 years, average age was 45 ± 11 years. 44.8 percent of participants indicated that they work at school which belongs to the SHE (School for Health in Europe) network. Anonymous questionnaire was developed to assess PE teachers’ health education perceptions and attitudes towards HE. Research results. Only one of ten physical education teachers understood conception of HE and correctly defined its main goal. Neither teachers from schools within the SHE network, nor the ones who began their career after Independence fundamentally differed in their understanding and attitudes towards HE from teachers who did not belong to the SHE network or began their carrier before Independence.The findings of the current study demonstrated that in this sample PE teachers’ behavior change – related competencies were not well-developed for the implementation of effective and safe HE. Discussion and conclusions. This pilot study showed that HE perception of PE teachers’ was incorrect and their attitude towards health education should be optimized. No important differences were observed between HE perceptions of teachers in regard of school belonging to SHE network. PE teachers working in SHE school network reported higher social support for HE activities

Sveikatingumo centruose besimankštinančių asmenų kūno vaizdo ir mankštinimosi sąsajos

Research background and hypothesis. The analysis of factors which might influence exercise adherence is important issue for physical activity promotion. Studies show that exercisers’ body image is important factor associated with well being, exercise motivation and specific exercise-related behaviour. Research aim was is to examine the relationship between exercise adherence, body image and social physique anxiety in a sample of fitness centre participants. Research methods. Members of fitness centres (n = 217, 66 of them were women) provided their answers on exercise experience, in three subscales (appearance evaluation, appearance orientation and overweight preoccupation) of The Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ-AS; Brown et al., 1990) and Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS; Hart et al., 1989). Mean age of the sample was 29.02 (9.85) years (range = 18-68 years). Research results. Women demonstrated higher appearance orientation, overweight preoccupation and social physique anxiety compared to men. However, we observed no signifi cant differences in appearance evaluation, appearance orientation and overweight preoccupation in the groups of different exercise experience of men and women.When overweight respondents (≥ 25 kg / m²) were excluded from the analysis, there were no statistically signifi cant differences observed in body image and social physique anxiety in exercise experience groups of men and women. Exercising longer than 6 years signifi cantly predicted overweight preoccupation [95% CI: 1.25–16.94] controlled by age and gender. Discussion and conclusions. Exercising men demonstrated more positive body image and lower social physique anxiety compared to women, except for appearance evaluation. There were observed no body image and social physique relationships with exercise adherence observed in the sample of fitness centre participants, however, exercise experience longer than 6 years predicted overweight preoccupation

The Impact of Social Transfers on Poverty Reduction in EU Countries

Available studies indicate a strong negative correlation between poverty and social expenditures in EU countries. It means that the country’s at-risk-of-poverty rate tends to erode with increasing social expenditure. However, the studies have demonstrated that the impact of government spending on poverty may vary according to the sector of spending, how well it is targeted, and the way in which it is financed. Some countries manage to achieve a rather significant poverty rate reduction even with relatively low, in the context of other Member States, social expenditure (percentage of GDP). This suggests that in order to reduce poverty rates, it is important to consider not only the amount allocated to social spending, but also the areas the social transfers are channelled to. The article aims to analyse how the composition and the extent of social spending/transfers may affect poverty reduction in EU countries. The analysis showed that social protection transfers reduce the percentage of people at-risk-of-poverty in all countries, however, to a very different extent. Regression analysis demonstrated that social exclusion and family/children expenditure was found to be the most important predictor for a relative antipoverty effect of social transfers: even a small percentage increase in such expenditure allows quite a significant increase in the relative antipoverty effect of social transfers

Can internalization of sociocultural beauty standards predict adolescents’ physical activity?

5th World Conference on Educational Sciences - WCES 2013The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between the internalization of sociocultural standards of physical attractiveness and physical activity among adolescents of both genders. The participants of the study were 821 adolescents from 15 to 18 years of age. Internalization of general sociocultural standards of physical attractiveness was associated with significantly lower strenuous and moderate PA in girls, but not in boys. Internalization of athletic body image was associated with higher strenuous PA in both gendersLietuvos sporto universitetasPsichologijos katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta