Quality employment and social protection are essential to reinforce welfare state by 2030
7 February 2023
The ILO participated in the Launch event of the report of the High-level group on the future of social protection and the welfare state in the EU, organized by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.
The final report of the High-level group sets out a vision on how to reinforce social protection systems and the welfare state to better address ongoing and new challenges, looking ahead to 2030. Christina Behrendt, Head of the Social Policy Unit in the ILO’s Social Protection Department, took part in a panel on Quality jobs and enabling working environments throughout the life cycle.
Social security is part of job quality and it should be a certainty for workers in any type of employment. And yet, we still see significant coverage gaps for many workers, for example for many in temporary employment, particularly those with very short-term contracts (or even zero-hour contracts or casual employment); (involuntary) part-time workers and self-employed workers.
“Ironically, many of the ‘frontline’ workers who have been praised during the pandemic, including many of those who are delivering the services of the welfare state, such as workers in the care, retail and transport sectors and domestic workers, are not well protected themselves,” she said. Greater strides are necessary to ensure adequate social protection for all workers in all types of employment.
As two sides of the same medal, quality employment and social protection are both essential for tackling challenges and fostering opportunities related to demographic change, the green transition and migration. It is important to ensure access to decent employment and social protection also for migrants and refugees. The ILO also underlined the need to take measures to support lifelong learning, skills development and life-course transitions.
Europe is also closely connected to other parts of the world, whether through global value chains or migration policies, and therefore also has a responsibility to support other countries in promoting quality employment and strengthening their social protection systems.
The final report of the High-level group sets out a vision on how to reinforce social protection systems and the welfare state to better address ongoing and new challenges, looking ahead to 2030. Christina Behrendt, Head of the Social Policy Unit in the ILO’s Social Protection Department, took part in a panel on Quality jobs and enabling working environments throughout the life cycle.
As the report underlines, the quality of employment, with rights and social protection, is critical to the future of the welfare state in Europe,
said Ms Behrendt
Social security is part of job quality and it should be a certainty for workers in any type of employment. And yet, we still see significant coverage gaps for many workers, for example for many in temporary employment, particularly those with very short-term contracts (or even zero-hour contracts or casual employment); (involuntary) part-time workers and self-employed workers.
“Ironically, many of the ‘frontline’ workers who have been praised during the pandemic, including many of those who are delivering the services of the welfare state, such as workers in the care, retail and transport sectors and domestic workers, are not well protected themselves,” she said. Greater strides are necessary to ensure adequate social protection for all workers in all types of employment.
As two sides of the same medal, quality employment and social protection are both essential for tackling challenges and fostering opportunities related to demographic change, the green transition and migration. It is important to ensure access to decent employment and social protection also for migrants and refugees. The ILO also underlined the need to take measures to support lifelong learning, skills development and life-course transitions.
Europe is also closely connected to other parts of the world, whether through global value chains or migration policies, and therefore also has a responsibility to support other countries in promoting quality employment and strengthening their social protection systems.
The UN Secretary-General’s Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions provides an important opportunity, reflecting a similar spirit as the report of the High-level group, and uses an integrated approach that combines ensuring social protection, improving care services and adopting pathways to more formal employment to support the green and digital transitions.
Ms Behrendt concluded.