Contenu du sommaire : Stratégies de croissance, emploi et protection sociale

The Rise of the Machines: How Computers Have Changed Work. Computers and robots are transforming the structure of the workplace. The increasing ability to automate jobs raises the fear that job opportunities for workers will become scarcer, and unemployment will increase. However, the available empirical evidence suggests that technological change does not systematically cause mass unemployment. Despite dramatic technological improvements since the Industrial Revolution, employment has seen a steady decline. However, the increased use of computers and robots over the last four decades has changed the composition of the labor market : while many production and clerical jobs in the middle wage bracket have been replaced by technology, employment has grown in specialist fields and highly paid managerial and professional occupations, as well as in low paid tertiary sector jobs. The result is a polarization of the labor market that is widely observed across developed countries.

Inequality in income and social protection: the lessons of the OECD's international analysis. The gap between rich and poor in OECD countries has widened considerably over the last three decades. That growth in inequality is largely attributable to structural changes in the labour market and to the distribution of salaries. In several countries, societal changes, such as a fall in household size and greater social homogamy, have also played a role, albeit to a lesser extent. Finally, redistribution weakened in half of OECD countries, especially at the end of the 1990s and the start of the 2000s. That long-term increase in income inequality raises social and political concerns, as well as economic ones : income inequality tends to weigh down on GDP growth, under the effect of the ever-greater gap between the 40% poorest and the rest of the population. Political approaches to be considered can be grouped around four themes : the role of education, the continuing search for equality between women and men, the creation of jobs that are, above all else, of sufficient quality, and the role of redistribution arrangements.

The Nordic Models in Turbulent Times: Still able to adapt ? After a massive crisis in the early 1990s, Nordic countries adjusted their models and recovered swiftly. Topping rankings of efficiency and equity in the 2000s, they also weathered the Great Recession of 2008 quite well. Both crises emanated from financial and economic policy-failures, not from the social models. In the 1990s, major changes were made in economic policies and wage coordination, while, except in Denmark, currency depreciations spurred export-driven recoveries. Consolidating budgets and restoring domestic demand, the Nordic countries invested in education and work policies to preserve their social models. Under certain conditions, activation policies were more often able to drive unemployment downwards, and inequalities remained limited. Hard hit by the 2008 crisis, Nordic countries could – thanks to former adjustments and strong public finances – pursue moderately countercyclical policies and recover. As they were outside the Euro zone, Sweden and Norway benefited from initial currency depreciations. Finland and Denmark experienced more severe declines – in Denmark this was due to its speculative bubble bursting – but by 2014 recovery seemed underway in all Nordic countries, except Finland. However, faced with certain political uncertainty, older and more diverse populations and higher unemployment rates, new uncertainty about how Nordic countries will be able to adapt their future social model has grown.

Care for young children in France and in OECD countries: a social-investment policy ? This article examines France's situation in relation to policy on care for young children in comparison with the other OECD countries. French characteristics are examined from the point of view of the size of investments made in relation to care, the overall coverage of services, and the principles that structure the offer. The wide variety of politically-supported types of care is combined with a significant degree of stratification of access to those various types, depending on the families' standard of living and the parents' job situation. The French care policy is also compared, according to more qualitative dimensions that cover staff in charge of young children, standards of supervision, and the administrative organisation of that care. The multiple benefits of the development of care services for young children are then presented. The investment made in that care is relatively high in France, from the point of view of national wealth allocated to it. Nonetheless, reducing inequality of access to various types of care, giving greater priority to children from disadvantaged families, and greater harmonisation of training for staff involved with young children could increase the social and economic benefits of that development.

Workforce training, growth and inequality. Economist perspectives often explain the recent increase in inequality in many countries via limitations in the supply of high-skilled labor. This paper challenges this perspective, by pointing out the importance of inter-country differences in the institutional design of education and training systems, which are related to the differences in the degree of socio-economic inequality. The paper also evaluates the extent to which professional training programs are related to economic growth and unemployment. It is argued (and shown empirically) that professional training programs in coordinated market economies such as Germany, with a strong focus on vocational education and training, may not be associated with high levels of growth in the short term. However, they encourage employers to adopt a long-term perspective in personnel and production management strategies, contributing to lower levels of unemployment and youth unemployment, in particular during times of crisis.`np pagenum="191"/b

Socio-economic citizenship for young people and growth strategies: Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France. If the crisis has affected young people most of all, their fate very much varies depending on the country. Youth unemployment is high in both Southern Europe and in France, whereas it is much lower in Germany, for example. These variations can partly be understood by looking at national economic and social policies aimed at young people. In order to account for differences between countries, this article analyses the terms on which social and economic citizenship for young people is built within various educational and social-protection systems. It offers a typology to account for the varying terms of intervention by the state to promote economic and social independence amongst young people. This typology distinguishes between two types of access to social citizenship by young people, depending on how the state provides financial support to young people, whether on a family basis or an individual basis, depending on whether the young people are considered as being children or adults. It goes on to distinguish between two types of access to economic citizenship, depending on the manner in which the state intervenes to facilitate access to jobs for young people, via education policies and employment policies, which can be inclusive or selective, depending on whether skills are distributed across all young people or only some of them. The comparison of four case studies (France, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) allows us to illustrate and confirm the socio-economic citizenship regimes for young people that are thus put in place. These four types of intervention are in line with the national growth strategies.

The challenges of social protection and the accumulation of wealth: findings, ideologies, and paths of reform. Like other Eurozone countries, France is faced with long-term difficulties in financing its welfare state (difficulties that may specially have a negative effect on future retirees), and with a growing weight of wealth in its economy, a process that takes the form of a growing concentration of savings in the hands of the eldest people, all too often in the form of a store of value with little risk. Aggravated by increasing life expectancy, those two phenomena create an imbalance between generations to the benefit of the older generation, and restrict possibilities for growth. The dominant discourses of various generations are a fairly close reflection of these tensions, but all too often, they are pro domo pleas that are linked, first of all, to the position occupied in the life-cycle. Possible remedies to the current situation are themselves based on “metaphysical” presuppositions, and they fall within the ideological triangle formed by the`np pagenum="237"/b three polar visions of the social state : free agent, equal citizenship, and multiple solidarity. In the case of social transfer, is it necessary to strengthen the dependence links between generations as part of a judicious intergenerational solidarity or should there be reliance on other guiding principles, such as freedom of choice and individual responsibility for agents, or equality between citizens and generations ? At the wealth level, we have put forward “solidarity deals” that combine an increase in taxation with positive outcomes for savers : a heavier and more progressive taxation of family inheritances alone family inheritances counterparts lone would thus be “balanced out” by an increase in the means offered to escape that inheritance surcharge by gifts to family or charities, by using up equity during the twilight years, or by making longer-term, riskier investments. More generally, these “solidarity deals” aim to make the “nest egg” held by elderly people involved in sustainable and more balanced financing of education and of social protection.

Home care services” in France: a stalemate in clear strategies for economic growth. This article analyses strategies for economic growth, with the aim of widening the scope of the marketplace to social care activities. Based on an analysis of the 2005 development plan for home care services, it presents the cognitive foundations that justified this plan, in particular the “new” needs relating to an ageing population and a larger proportion of women who work. Our analysis shows that the homogenous nature of “home care services” is based on a fiction built upon a range of concrete arrangements. This plan and these arrangements have led to fairly drastic industrial restructuring, with the very swift arrival of commercial businesses in both the world of domestic and social care.

The long-term life of very young children placed with Aide Sociale à l'Enfance. The 2011-2014 research work done by Saint-Ex. (IRT Saint-Exupéry (Institut de Recherche Technologique Saint-Exupéry) - Saint-Exupery Technological Research Institute) describes the life of 129 children over a 20-year period who, before the age of 4, were placed in an establishment under the care of Aide Sociale à l'Enfance (Children's Welfare) of Maine-et-Loire Department (department number 49). The complete biographies of these children have been recreated, from birth to adulthood.
On admission, individual morbidity was very high (poor general health and mental suffering) in a family environment that was often disrupted (several family members placed in care, and parents with psychiatric issues). All of the children made subsequent progress, however to varying degrees. The least progress was made by children who, on admission, were in a considerably worse state, and for whom the decision for them to be placed into care was taken after a long time.
The research highlights several determining factors that have a negative effect on life outcomes, and in particular the severity and duration of exposure to risk. Upon reaching adulthood, one quarter of the children continued to suffer from a mental disorder and social maladjustment, and were dependent on social benefits. However, one quarter made favourable progress, and were those who were taken into care early enough, with somatic and psychological disorders that could still be reversed. The research also highlights protective factors, such as early placement in care. Negative changes thus appear to be minimised by improving screening and by encouraging early placement in care.

Factors determining private general practitioners' opinion on delegating tasks to practice nurses. New forms of cooperation between private general practitioners and nurses are developing in France, often through experimentation. The opinion of healthcare professionals about how this cooperation will work is not unified. From the results of two surveys carried out on a panel of GPs, this paper investigates the deciding factors concerning the willingness to delegate, based on three nursing funding scenarios : the full fee paid by the health insurance company, the full fee paid from the GP practice revenues and mixed funding (50% from the health insurance company and 50% from GP practice revenues). Irrespective of the type of funding, one third of GPs are in favor of delegating one or more tasks to a practice nurse. Nevertheless, this result varies depending on the way the nurse is funded : GPs are most inclined to transfer an activity when it is paid for by the Health Insurance Company (60%), whereas when the nurse is fully paid for from practice revenues, only 17% of opinions are favorable. Our analyses also suggest the emergence of two cooperation models between GPs and nurses. The first model, chosen by the majority of GPs who are in favor of delegation, describes transferring support-related activities and the monitoring of patients with chronic diseases (patient education, patient support when stopping smoking, etc.). A second model, which is less common, appears to show doctors in favor of delegating a broader range of activities, including technical procedures (cervical smear tests) or glycated hemoglobin determination (HbA1c).

Setting up the Pôle Emploi : between French specificities and international standards. This article analyses the political objectives attributed to the 2008 merger in France between paying unemployment benefits and job counselling for the unemployed. By re-introducing the setting-up of Pôle Emploi (National Employment Agency, France) into long-term anti-unemployment policies, and across an area wider than just the French territory, this paper highlights the extent to which OECD countries share a common question when it comes to unemployment : how to link the task of paying unemployment benefits and the task of finding jobs for unemployed people, in order to maximise the return to employment. The creation of Pôle Emploi is an institutional response that mobilises various available resources, which are nonetheless combined in a new way in the French case. The reform that gave rise to the Pôle Emploi is based on rationalising the administration and organisation of the activities of the Public employment services (PES) with a view to deepening job seekers' involvement. Through the creation of this institution, the balance of power between stakeholders in the SPE, and the distribution of functions between the bodies that it is composed of are redefined.