Development Pathways (May 2018) In their scope, and by the fact that they are legally required, the social audits in India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme are an unparalleled collective social accountability mechanism. In the state of Andhra Pradesh, social audits have been institutionalised and implemented across the state. This report, downloadable below, identifies the lessons for elsewhere. These include how social accountability mechanisms most likely need to be institutionalised and led by the state if civic mobilisation is to succeed in the face of strong local elites.

Articles on Platform Economy

ceps.eu (31.10.2017) The partnership between delivery platform Deliveroo and workers’ cooperative SMart has been terminated, sparking new debate over workers’ rights in the platform economy.

The collaborative economy (or “platform economy”), encompassing work-on-demand via apps like Uber and crowdwork like Amazon Mechanical Turk, has grown exponentially in recent years, thanks to the development of high-speed networks, the exploitation of big data and the availability of mobile devices, which have cut down transaction costs and allow for real-time effective matching of supply and demand. While creating many new opportunities for digital and physical services, which have, thanks to lower costs as compared to established operators, rather expanded the market for services instead of crowding out the incumbents, this new digitally based economy has also raised questions on the situation of workers. As this literature review shows, their legal status (either as employees or self-employed) is often unclear, and negative effects on the labour market can be witnessed (such as missing social protection, low remuneration of work, questionable work-life balance and more). Many of these effects are due to the functioning of the digital economy, which relies on micro-tasks, trust-inducing mechanisms as ratings and - at times opaque - algorithms. The literature review also presents policy solutions as discussed in recent literature.

Economic and technical changes are redrawing the map of the world of work: new jobs are appearing while others are becoming obsolete, and atypical work patterns are replacing full-time work and open-ended contracts. In addition, work is increasingly being carried out on online platforms connecting buyers and sellers, or by large project teams across borders and time zones. Robotics and digitalisation raise new questions, as machines are progressively replacing the human workforce for routine tasks, and as new types of professional and personal skills are required to respond to technological progress. Active labour-market policies are needed to cater for the changing reality in the world of work. This concerns social security systems, which must adapt to new, constantly changing, requirements, unresolved ethical and practical problems relating to robotics, and the need for new digital skills, which are essential to survive in the new working environment.

European Parliament (Dec 2017)  This study investigates the social protection of workers in the platform economy at the request of the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee. The report reviews literature and previous research on the platform economy with the aims of defining it and developing a typology for understanding its nature. It discusses the growth and drivers of the platform economy, as well as benefits and challenges for workers, reporting findings from 50 interviews conducted with expert stakeholders in eight European countries and from an original survey of 1,200 platform workers. It dissects the different normative layers that need to be considered when looking at the challenges of social protection of platform workers from a legal perspective. Finally, the report draws conclusions and makes recommendations concerning arrangements for the provision of social protection for workers in this growing sector of the economy.

The New York Times (28.05.2018) After eight years of budget cutting, Britain is looking less like the rest of Europe and more like the United States, with a shrinking welfare state and spreading poverty.

The Guardian Nigeria Newspaper (26.06.2018) The Lagos State government will today launch the Vision Zero Conference, which is aimed at helping employees to develop attitudinal change and safeguard them at work. Governor Akinwunmi Ambode will be signing the Occupational Health and Safety Policy Statement for the state to serve as a platform to protect people from unsafe acts and conditions.

EurActiv (25.06.2018) Derzeit tagen die EU-Sozialminister zu sozialen Rechten auf dem Arbeitsmarkt. Dabei fällt bitter auf, dass gerade im Sozialstaat Deutschland die Karriere noch immer stark von der Herkunft abhängt. Woran liegt das, was kann man tun?

Bloomberg (25.06.2018) More than four years since Vladimir Putin’s popularity shot to record highs after his annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea, support for the Russian president has fallen right back on an unpopular plan to raise the pension age. Confidence among Russians in Putin declined to 42 percent in mid-June from 45 percent a week earlier, the lowest level since December 2013, according to state-run polling company VTsIOM. It said Putin’s approval rating fell from 77 percent to 72 percent, the worst result since March 2014, the month he signed an order absorbing Crimea into Russia. A separate poll by the Public Opinion Foundation showed a similar drop.

Informations sociales (juin 2018) Le dernier numéro de la revue de la caisse nationale des Allocations familiales (Cnaf), Informations sociales, coordonné par Frédéric Gonthier, enseignant-chercheur en science politique à l’IEP de Grenoble, est consacré aux valeurs de la protection sociale, avec trois parties consacrées à leur historique, leur place dans le débat citoyen, leur appropriation par le personnel des caisses de Sécurité sociale et enfin, les attentes des Français et Européens. 

Le Temps (juin 2018) L e nombre de chômeurs en fin de droits qui se retrouvent à l’aide sociale a doublé en une petite décennie. Notre dossier raconte cette épine dans le pied d'une Suisse prospère

NPR (14.06.2018) They are among the 92 countries where there is no national policy that allow dads to take paid time off work to care for their newborns.

Irish Times (20.06.2018) There will be “virtually no impact” from additional refugees on the workforce population in Ireland by December 2020, the latest International Migration Outlook report has found.

theguardian.com (15.06.2018) OECD report says it could take 150 years for a child from a poor UK family to earn national average

developmentpathways.co.uk (06.06.2018) For all its ambivalence, the IMF is a, if not the, key actor when it comes to social protection arrangements in low- and middle-income countries, writes Philip Alston.  In a new report he examine its approach to social protection and make a range of recommendations as to how it could do far better in this area.

Le Monde (21.06.2018) Les comptes publiés jeudi par la Drees classent la France parmi les pays les plus actifs dans la lutte contre la pauvreté.

 The New York Times (20.06.2018) The plan, which will most likely face significant opposition in Congress from Democrats and some Republicans, includes relocating many social safety net programs into a new megadepartment

Wire (19.06.2018) Technology-led disruptions are likely to make informality an enduring, if not accelerating, condition of Indian labour markets, requiring new and imaginative approaches to social protection.

lemonde.fr (31.05.2018) Le gouvernement a lancé jeudi sa « consultation citoyenne » sur ce projet particulièrement complexe et sensible. Tour d’horizon des enjeux de la réforme.

NZZ (19.06.2018) Am Schweizer Arbeitsmarkt läuft es rund. Die Arbeitslosigkeit ist derzeit so niedrig, wie seit fast zehn Jahren nicht mehr. Allein im ersten Quartal ist die Zahl der offenen Stellen um 17% gestiegen. Der Fachkräftemangel, der sich vor allem bei Ingenieur-, Management- und Technikerberufen zeigt, dürfte sich weiter akzentuieren. Angesichts der rückläufigen Einwanderung und der fortschreitenden demografischen Alterung rückt dabei wieder vermehrt das bestehende Arbeitskräftepotenzial in der Schweiz in den Vordergrund. Dieses ist allerdings kleiner als in zahlreichen anderen Ländern, weil hierzulande die Erwerbsbeteiligung im internationalen Vergleich hoch ist.

El Pais (19.06.2018) ¿Cuánto y cómo deben subir las pensiones en tiempos de crisis? ¿En las recesiones deben subir las mínimas con el IPC y las altas menos? La respuesta a estas dos preguntas divide al Pacto de Toledo. La semana pasada quedó claro que los precios deben ser el elemento "medular" en las revalorizaciones para que los pensionistas mantengan su poder adquistivo. Pero para esta semana quedó resolver la duda de qué pasaba si la economía entraba en problemas. Finalmente en la reunión de este martes no ha habido respuesta. Nadie se ha movido de dónde ya estaban. PP, Ciudadanos, PNV y PDECat sostienen que en estos momentos el IPC debe compartir protagonismo con la evolución del PIB y los salarios y que las prestaciones más altas "hagan sacrificios". PSOE y Unidos Podemos no aceptan la distinción.

lemonde.fr (28.05.2018) La ministre de la santé craint que la directive harmonisant le congé parental en Europe « éloigne les femmes du marché du travail ».

franceinter (20.06.2018) Ce mercredi, les ministres Gérald Darmanin et Mounir Mahjoubi lèvent le voile sur 17 projets imaginés pour améliorer la qualité de l'action publique grâce au numérique, qui feront l'objet de 200 millions d'euros d'investissements. Parmi eux, le recours à l'intelligence artificielle par Pôle Emploi.

IMF F&D Magazine  (June 2018) Digital platforms are recasting the relationships between customers, workers, and employers as the silicon chip’s reach permeates almost everything we do—from buying groceries online to finding a partner on a dating website. As computing power improves dramatically and more and more people around the world participate in the digital economy, we should think carefully about how to devise policies that will allow us to fully exploit the digital revolution’s benefits while minimizing job dislocation.