Beyond European unemployment insurance. Less moral hazard, more moral assurance?

Artikel

The compromise that emerged from the lengthy debate on European unemployment insurance (EUI) involved the establishment of a ‘European Unemployment Reinsurance Scheme’. However, it was not until the shock waves of the COVID-19 pandemic were felt that any specific measures were actually taken to establish such a scheme. The reasons for such prevarication were, first, doubts as to whether moral hazard can be kept under control and, second, the huge diversity of EU Member States’ coverage and level of social protection. This article offers a third reason for this protracted stalemate: the neglect of moral assurance as a countervailing force of moral hazard. It argues that the concept of unemployment insurance itself needs to be fundamentally revised. Modern labour market policy must cover not only income risks related to unemployment, but also other serious income risks related to critical transitions over the life course. Finally, this article proposes the extension of the European Social Fund to create a European Employment and Social Fund with elements of work-life insurance and a reinsurance mechanism for shock absorption.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research ; ISSN: 1996-7284 ; Volume: 26 ; Year: 2020 ; Issue: 4 ; Pages: 465-480 ; Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft
• Subject: European Union ; European Social Fund ; unemployment insurance ; social insurance ; moral hazard ; moral assurance ; transitional labour markets ; work-life insurance

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Schmid, Günther
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Sage
• (where): Thousand Oaks, CA
• (when): 2020

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.1177/1024258920952666
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/227774
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET