Contenu du sommaire : Emplois et statuts atypiques : quelles protections sociales ?

Has the economic crisis contributed to more segmentation in labour market and welfare outcomes ? An analysis of EU countries (2008-2010). This paper analyses whether developments on the labour market and in the welfare system during the economic crisis can be seen as perpetuating the trend towards labour market segmentation or whether the crisis may actually have contributed to containing some of the divisions forged in recent decades. With regard to non-standard workers, developments during the crisis in European countries may appear, at first sight, to have run in opposite directions. While these workers have indeed, in many cases, been more affected by unemployment, serious efforts have been made in several countries to improve their access to unemployment benefits as they are usually among those considerably less likely to qualify for unemployment benefits. Due in part to these improvements, but also as a result of changing characteristics of the pool of unemployed, increasing benefit coverage rates could be observed in many countries. In others, however, trends ran in the opposite direction. Women, and particularly youth, nonetheless remain in an inferior position and, on the EU27 average, the coverage rate of the latter group has`np pagenum="012"/b actually declined during the first period of the crisis.

Minijobs – a widespread form of employment in Germany currently under debate. So-called “mini-jobs” are a prominent and specific feature in the German labour landscape. This is a form of marginal part-time employment that pays a maximum of €450 a month. This amount is totally tax-free for the worker who is exempt from social charges and even income tax. These “mini-jobs” are the only employment for some five million workers in Germany today. A long-standing practice since the 1970s, these “mini-jobs” gradually gained momentum following a succession of measures characterised by hesitation on the part of public authorities and trade unions, torn between the desire to reconcile the interests of the workers and employees (flexible labour supply) and the social insurance funds, which would only receive reduced contributions paid by employers. For the minijobbers themselves, the downside is the lack of social security coverage. That said, the majority of people of this category (those who are married, students or unemployed) do receive welfare, which is adequate in terms of social security but nonetheless insufficient in terms of retirement. This issue is open to debate.

Challenges for Italian welfare system in the light of atypical forms of employment. At a time when Italy is undergoing stringent budgetary restrictions, the labour market segmentation resulting from the rise of atypical forms of employment calls for examination of its welfare system. In this article we will focus on the Italian experience using a comparative perspective. This will enable us to identify the particularities of their welfare system. We will then endeavour to draw up a description of the different types of atypical jobs that have developed in Italy over the last 20 years or so, primarily affecting young people and women. We will finish by examining recent legislative amendments. This will enable us to find out what kind of social welfare rights different categories of workers in atypical jobs are entitled to. This study will also highlight the differences and inequalities existing between these atypical workers and so-called “standard” employees.

Flexibility of labour and the direction taken by social welfare in Sweden. Atypical forms of employment became more widespread in Sweden during the 1980s and this resulted in increased flexibility in the labour market. This change mostly concerned the younger members of the population and now time spent doing an atypical job is even viewed as a typical stage in a career path. The growth of this form of employment also impacts women – so much so that many women stay in this kind of job for significantly long periods. At the same time, changes in the global state welfare policy approach in the 1990s meant that more focus was put on providing minimum coverage – an obstacle to the fight against inequality. It could thus be argued that this increasing tendency to foster and maintain flexibility of labour confirms Sweden's move away from a welfare-based system towards a more insurance-based model.

Increased medical spending into United States. The limits of the Obama's reforms : between extending health coverage and financing medicine in the quest for excellence. One of the outstanding features of the American health system is the high cost of medical care compared to other OECD countries. One explanation for this costintensive medical practice is a constant quest for excellence in the field. Besides this cultural specificity, economic regulatory policy leaves little leeway for negotiating prices. Competition between insurance companies is mostly based on the quality of healthcare and not on the price. This means that access to health care goes to the highest bidder. In addition, the setting up of healthcare networks have, over time, encouraged healthcare providers to consolidate and group their activity into lobbies, making it difficult to regulate prices. All this has led to significant discrimination in terms of access to health care as well as huge deficits for public schemes. In this difficult context, further aggravated by the economic crisis, the expected outcomes of the health reform are all the more urgent. However it is unlikely that this reform with its two-fold objective of extending health care coverage to a wider population while at the same time maintaining current regulation mechanisms, will succeed in limiting inflation of healthcare costs.