Documents Szelewa, Dorota 5 results

"The European Union (EU) launched the European Pillar of Social Rights to improve social rights for EU citizens. However, little is known about the domestic dynamics of implementing these new rights. This article examines the implementation of the Work-Life Balance Directive in three member states with different policy traditions: Denmark, Germany and Poland. Based on an actor-centred approach, the article demonstrates that two main factors were crucial in motivating national actors to shape the implementation of these rights. First, the economic costs, including new permanent costs emerging from the provisions and the administrative costs of implementing an EU directive, shaped actors' positions in all three countries. Second, the values of gender equality – whether promoting gender-equal leave or traditional family values – constituted an underlying reason for actors to customise the EU rules differently. Both factors, used as a defence or driver for change, increase differentiated policy implementation."

"This article examines factors that could contribute to explaining variation in take-up of leave among fathers in the light of the EU's Work–Life Balance Directive (WLBD). The WLBD seeks to equalize care responsibilities between fathers and mothers, especially through reserved leave, with high compensation. The article begins with a cross-country overview of take-up of leave among eligible fathers, considering earmarking and the degree of compensation. Our results show variation, which cannot fully be explained by policy design (presence of high compensation with reserved leave for fathers). The article then theorizes that instrumental resources – information and accessible administrative application procedures – could be a missing link to understand the actual shift from de jure to de facto social rights. The article then carries out embedded case studies on these two aspects of instrumental resources, using original qualitative data collected during the implementation of the WLBD. The most striking finding is that countries with similar formal implementation of earmarked paid parental leave, display significant differences in commitment to instrumental resources. Put differently, the WLBD is being implemented differently, not regarding formal social rights, but on instrumental resources. This finding is important because it means that EU-initiated legislation on parental leave, could lead to differences in outcomes, that is, take-up of leave among fathers. The implication of our findings is that decision-makers and policy actors at EU level and in member states, should focus more on instrumental resources in the implementation process. This is particularly important for enhancing the de facto legitimacy of the EU in social policy, given that EU social regulation is increasing via the European Pillar of Social Rights."

"This article deals with migration flows from and to Poland from a skills perspective. It argues that Poland's economy is skewed towards lower to medium skills and, confronted with an ‘education boom' in higher education, is not able to absorb its supply of highly qualified workers. As a result, a strong push factor to emigration has been created, which should be seen as a brain overflow rather than a brain drain. On the other hand, the sectors requiring relatively low skills and offering the lowest wages are facing labour shortages. Immigrants from the former Soviet Union are filling this gap. We argue that Poland represents a specific place in the migration chain, as there is no clear substitution of migrating workers with immigrants; rather, the nature of emigration and immigration reinforces the socio-economic model in Poland. "

"This article centres on the intersection of the dimensions of class and gender. Its main goal is to present an overview of the kinds of constraints and opportunities provided by the combinations of different policy tools for various income profiles in Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Adopting a focus on single parents, differences within this group are identified by using disposable income micro-simulations for different household profiles in applying the capabilities approach, giving special attention to the level of agency over choices in work-life balance. In order to measure the class effects of policy mixes, this article proposes an alternative approach to the comparative analysis of family support. It adopts a particular focus on single-parent families. (1) for four different income profiles: at levels of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 times the average wage; (2) for in-work and out-of-work situations; and (3) by using a tax-benefit model, which analyses gross income from work along with social benefits (unemployment insurance benefits, housing benefits, child benefits, and child care subsidies) minus tax, mandatory social contributions, housing costs and childcare fees. The adopted unit of stylised comparison is a single-parent family with a child aged three, with the assumption that the family uses formal childcare."

"This article compares childcare provisions in the new member countries of the EU. It takes into account two pillars of childcare policy: publicly provided childcare services and parental leave provisions. In the analysis, the fuzzy set ideal types approach is utilized. In contrast to the studies conducted so far, this article stops treating the region of Cental and Eastern Europe as a monolith and demonstrates the existence of cross-country variation of childcare policies within the region. Furthermore, the difference is systematized by identifying four clusters of childcare policy. These are : explicit familialism, implicit familialism, female mobilizing and comprehensive support types. The countries are clustered as follows: the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia in the explicit familism policy model; Estonia and Latvia in the female mobilizing type policy; Lithuania and Hungary pursuing the childcare policies typical of the comprehensive support model; and finally the childcare policy in Poland resembles characteristics of the implicit familism model."