Policy cycle in economic and financial affairs

The LABREF – LABour market REForm database is a joint project managed by the European Commission and the Economic Policy Committee (EPC). The aim of the project, started in December 2005, is to support the work carried out in the framework of the Europe 2020 Strategy and to improve the understanding of labour market institutions as part of the general economic policy surveillance of Member States.

The LABREF database provides information on the design, scope and durability of labour market reforms. It focuses on selected characteristics of measures introduced as part of labour market reforms and provides information on their expected implementation. LABREF covers 9 broad policy areas:

• labour taxation
• unemployment and welfare-related benefits
• active labour market programmes
• employment protection legislation
• early retirement and disability schemes
• pension systems
• wage bargaining framework
• working time organisation
• immigration
• labour mobility policies

These areas correspond to 49 fields of policy intervention. A single measure may cover several areas of policy intervention and therefore be recorded several times. What matters is not the format of the measure itself, but rather the different policy actions it involves. For each recorded measure the database provides information on a number of key characteristics identifying specific related reform features of the reform design.

Several fields of interventions are gender-relevant, for example part-time, working hours management, family-related working time organisation, etc. Moreover, the database identifies whether policy initiatives are targeted, and women may be identified among targets, when relevant.

The database allows for tracking reforms by country, policy area, year of adoption and key characteristics of the reform design. This configuration allows for undertaking cross-country analysis on the pace and type of reforms enacted in a particular year, as well as for tracking reforms over time, thus providing a consistent and policy-relevant picture of different reform strategies being pursued by Member States. It also sheds light on the existing interactions between various labour market institutions.

Labour market policy (LMP) statistics provide information on labour market interventions, defined as “public interventions in the labour market aimed at reaching its efficient functioning and correcting disequilibria and which can be distinguished from other general employment policy interventions in that they act selectively to favour particular groups in the labour market”. The scope of LMP statistics is limited to public interventions which are explicitly targeted at groups of people with difficulties in the labour market: the unemployed, those employed but at risk of involuntary job loss and economically inactive people who would like to enter the labour market.

The unit of observation in the LMP database is the labour market intervention and data on the expenditure and participants (disaggregated by sex) for each intervention are collected annually from administrative sources in each country. The database also collects extensive qualitative information that describes each intervention, how it works, the main target groups, etc. According to the LMP methodology, labour market interventions are classified by type of action: labour market services (category 1), training, job rotation and job sharing, employment incentives, supported employment and rehabilitation, direct job creation, start-up incentives, out-of-work income maintenance and support, and early retirement. These categories are further classified as active LMP (categories 2 – 7) and passive LMP (8 and 9).

The LMP database was developed and maintained by Eurostat until 2013. From 2014, the LMP database has been developed and maintained by the European Commission's DG EMPL and LMP data are disseminated by Eurostat.

The current global financial crisis is gendered in its causes as well as in its consequences for human rights. This paper seeks to identify these hidden gendered causes and consequences and subject them to analysis so as to improve the knowledge base for policy development. This includes gendered assumptions underlying financial and macroeconomic policies, the gender composition of decision-makers and of beneficiaries or losers in the financial and ‘real’ economy, as well as issues of regulation, transparency and democracy, which have implications for women’s human rights and empowerment.

This report examines the specific macro-critical features of women’s participation in the labour market, the constraints preventing women from developing their full economic potential, and possible policies to overcome these obstacles. Implementing policies that remove labour market distortions and create a level playing field for all will give women the opportunity to develop their potential and to participate in economic life more visibly.

The paper analyses the financial crisis and financial reform from 2 alternative ethical perspectives as compared to the mainstream one in economics, utilitarianism. This hypothesis is tested with exploratory survey data from the Netherlands as well as 2 case studies of caring financial innovation from the Netherlands. Gender differences are considered when ethical alternatives are proposed.

The strategic gender initiative (2013) of the EBRD builds on lessons learned during the implementation of its three-year gender action plan (2009 – 2012). One of these lessons learned is that gender mainstreaming should start at the first stage of designing the project. The specific objectives of the strategic gender initiative are as follows.

• Identify the priority countries with gender gaps in the Bank’s current countries of operations and the potential countries of operations in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region, to establish where EBRD resources should be focused to have systemic gender impact.
• On the basis of these priorities, identify and develop projects with either a gender component or a gender focus aimed at promoting access to employment and skills, finance and services. Projects with a specific gender focus will generally be considered only in priority countries, although exceptions might be made where there is a compelling rationale to do so.
• Roll out specific products which have proved to be successful in addressing gender gaps, such as equal opportunities audits, and focus on the development of new products in specific sectors aimed at addressing gender gaps.
• Continue to ensure mitigation measures are applied through the implementation of the EBRD’s environmental and social policy in all of the Bank’s investments so as to ensure compliance with relevant International Labour Organisation (ILO) principles and conventions.
• Mainstream gender considerations into all of the Bank’s country strategies, sector policies and political assessments and strengthen institutional awareness of gender objectives.
• Assess and monitor the broader impact of EBRD projects, with a gender component or gender focus, in promoting economic opportunity for women — that is, their systemic impact at the sector, regional or even country level.

The United Kingdom introduced 2 new Pension Acts in 2007 and 2008, which make important changes to the State pension from 2010 and introduce a new, low-cost private pension scheme that people will be able to contribute to from 2012. The gender impact assessment analyses the likely impact of these reforms on women and men saving for retirement. The 2007 Act addresses a number of measures that are crucial from an equality perspective in order to ensure justice for both genders. These factors concern labour market factors (women sometimes work for smaller firms with lower capacity to provide social security services), in-work factors (women are more involved into part-time work) and work duration (women often work fewer hours due to caring responsibilities). A key aspect in this reform is that a life of unpaid caring responsibilities will be rewarded in retirement (in the State pension system) in the same way as a life of work.

Gender aspects of the effects of the economic downturn and financial crisis on welfare systems, 2013. This study explores the impact on women of the economic and financial crisis of 2007/8 and 2009/10, in terms of social welfare systems across the EU. It reviews EU level statistics and provides 6 in-depth case studies of EU Member States, which explore the gender impacts of reforms introduced as a result of the crisis.

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Examples of stakeholders that can be consulted

Consider consulting stakeholders (e.g. gender experts, civil society organisations) on the topic at hand, to share and validate your findings and to improve your policy or programme proposal. This will enhance the learning process on the subject for all those involved and will improve the quality of the work done at EU level. The stakeholders consultation process will start in this phase, but could also be considered as an important method to be applied along all the policy cycle’s phases.

For a more detailed description of how gender can be mainstreamed in this phase of the policy cycle, click here.