The Social Quality of National Employment Policies Put to the Test

This article outlines measures adopted in national social security schemes to promote the (re) integration into work of people with disabilities. The measures are evaluated in the light of broader reform trends, stemming from EU policies to foster labour market participation. Since the beginning of this century, the EU has played an active role in confronting national authorities with the need to design employment policies in which competitiveness and economic growth go hand in hand with measures that ensure that disadvantaged groups have equal access to the labour market and receive effective support to access employment. (1) Recent statistical data show, however, that the employment position of disadvantaged groups is still weak. (2) This would seem to suggest that the social quality of national schemes to foster labour market participation falls short of expectations. To gain insight into this matter, thirty European countries were asked to draw up national reports on the employment position of people with disabilities within the framework of the EU-funded MISSOC project. (3) This article presents a synopsis of the main findings from these reports. It starts with an overview of relevant developments at the European level (section 1). A framework for the evaluation of the social quality of national programmes to promote the (re) integration into work of people with disabilities is then developed in section 2. The results of the evaluation are presented in section 3, thereby focusing on measures addressing people with disabilities on the one hand (sections 3.1 and 3.2) and measures addressing the employer on the other hand (section 3.3). The evaluation winds up with some concluding observations with regard to the way in which the social dimension of employment policies has been implemented in national schemes to promote the (re) integration into work of people with disabilities (section 4).