European Network of Public Employment Services : activation of the inactive : PES initiative to support the activation of inactive groups : thematic paper.
Date: 2020-10-02
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Subjects: Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, European Employment Strategy, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden, employment service, financial stability, job mobility, labour market, non-working population, provision of services, social security

European Network of Public 
Employment Services  

Activation of the Inactive:  
PES initiative to support the 
activation of inactive groups 

Thematic Paper 

Written by  
Institute for Employment Research (IAB) 
Regina Konle-Seidl  
March 2020 

Social 
Europe 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Activation of the Inactive  

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion 
Directorate B — Employment 
Unit B.1 — Employment Strategy 
Contact: Gudrun Nachtschatt 

E-mail:  EMPL-PES-SECRETARIAT@ec.europa.eu  

European Commission 
B-1049 Brussels 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Activation of the Inactive  

Activation of the Inactive:  
PES initiative to support the 
activation of inactive groups 

Thematic Paper 

Directorate-General for Employment Social Affairs and Inclusion  
European Network of Public Employment Services 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Activation of the Inactive  

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Manuscript completed in March 2020 

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Activation of the Inactive  

Table of contents 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 7 

BACKGROUND: OVERVIEW OF THE SIZE AND COMPOSITION OF THE ECONOMICALLY 
INACTIVE .............................................................................................................. 8 

2.1   Who are the economically inactive? ................................................................. 8 
2.2  Main reasons for inactivity ............................................................................. 9 
2.3  Country-specific patterns of inactivity .............................................................. 9 
Activation potential ..................................................................................... 11 
2.4 
Institutional activation barriers ..................................................................... 11 
2.5 
Individual activation barriers ........................................................................ 12 
2.6 

THE ROLE OF PES IN ACTIVATING THE INACTIVE .................................................... 13 

PES APPROACHES TO ACTIVATE THE INACTIVE ....................................................... 14 

Inactive groups targeted by participating PES ................................................ 14 
4.1 
People with health problems and disabilities ................................................... 15 
4.2 
4.3 
Socially excluded and other particularly vulnerable groups ............................... 17 
4.4  Women with caregiver responsibilities ........................................................... 18 
4.5  Women with a migration background (including refugee women) ...................... 19 

5. 

SUMMARY OF KEY ISSUES .................................................................................... 20 

5.1  How far should PES get involved? ................................................................. 20 
Aligning social protection schemes with PES activation efforts .......................... 20 
5.2 
5.3  Managing cooperation ................................................................................. 21 
5.4  New ways to reach out to employers ............................................................. 22 

6. 

CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................... 22 

REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 23 

ANNEX ....................................................................................................................... 25 

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List of Boxes 

Box 1: Definition of 'inactive' ................................................................................................ 7 

Box 2: Work ability reform in Estonia (2016) ......................................................................... 17 

List of Figures 

Figure 1: Non-employment (inactivity and unemployment), 2019 .............................................. 8 

Figure 2: Breakdown of the ‘non-education’  category of inactive population as percentage of         

total population aged 15-64, by Member State, 2018 ................................................ 10 

List of Tables 

Table 1: Relevance of inactive sub-groups among participating PES .......................................... 14 

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1.  Introduction  

The  EU-2020  employment  strategy  aims  to  achieve  a  75%  employment  rate  for  the 
population  aged  20-64.  The  ‘Europe  2020’  growth  strategy  is  in  part  a  response  to  the 
threat  to  economic  growth  and  the  welfare  state  over  the  coming  decades  due  to  the 
ageing population and the decreasing share of the working-age among the population as 
a whole. While several Member States have already reached the employment target  and 
have  even  recorded  employment  rates  above  80%,  such  as  Sweden,  Germany  and  the 
Czech  Republic,  other  countries,  such  as  Greece,  Italy,  Croatia,  Spain,  Belgium  and 
France, are still struggling to reach the target. 

In the context  of  the  rapidly ageing population and in view of current and future labour 
shortages,  it  has  become  increasingly  important  to  activate  specific  sub-groups  of  the 
economically  inactive  population  (those  neither  employed  nor  unemployed)  to  ensure  a 
sufficient  labour  supply,  secure  the  financial  stability  of  social  security  systems  and  to 
promote social inclusion and a more inclusive labour market.  

Box 1: Definition of 'inactive' 

According  to  the  International  Labour  Organisation  (ILO)  definition,  a  person  is 
economically  inactive  if  he  or  she  is  not  part  of  the  labour  force,  meaning  that  the 
person is neither employed nor unemployed. Specifically,  it refers to persons who are 
not  working  and  are  not  seeking  work  (over  the  last  4  weeks)  or  available  for  work 
(within 2 weeks). In Europe, data on the inactive population is based on the European 
Labour  Force  Survey  (EU-LFS).  The  inactive  population  is  a  very  broad  category  and 
can include, for example, students, pensioners and homemakers, provided they are not 
in  employment  or  registered  as  unemployed.  This  thematic  paper  applies  the  ILO 
definition  of  the  working-age  population  (aged  15-64)  while  acknowledging  its 
limitations  and  recognising,  particularly  from  a  policy  perspective,  the  potential 
challenges  in  disaggregating  the  inactive  population  from  other  groups  such  as  the 
long-term unemployed or underemployed.  

The  economically  inactive  have  a  varying  degree  of  attachment  to  the  labour  market 
meaning  that  they  also  have  a  varying  potential  for  activation.  European  Labour  Force 
(EU-LFS)  survey  data  on  the  ‘willingness  to  work’  as  well  as  national  research  confirm 
that  a  significant  share  of  the  inactive  population  wants  to  work  and  is  potentially 
available  for  work.  Most  individuals  with  an illness  or  disability  have  significant  capacity 
to engage in productive work. Women  may have  exited the labour market to care for a 
child  or  other  relative  but  would  like  to  re-enter  paid  employment  if  opportunities  were 
available. With the right incentives and individual support, older workers may prefer work 
to early retirement. 

As  the  inactive  population  is  not  a  traditional  target  group  for  Public  Employment 
Services  (PES),  the  European  PES  Network  is  interested  in  gaining  new  insights  and  to 
learn  about  good  practices  and  expertise  to  activate  the  inactive  population  willing  to 
work. A  Thematic Review Workshop (TRW)  on  14 and 15 January 2020 in Riga brought 
together  PES  representatives  from  Belgium  (VDAB),  Croatia,  Czech  Republic,  Germany, 
Greece, Estonia, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Spain to exchange 
experiences  on  the  ‘Activation  of  the  Inactive’.  The  TRW  took  place  under  the  Work 
Programme of the European Network of Public Employment Services and  was hosted by 
the Latvian PES and co-hosted by the Flemish PES (VDAB).  

This  thematic  paper  is  based  on  an  input  paper  drafted  in  preparation  for  the  event.  It 
draws upon information provided in the questionnaire circulated among participating PES 
and inputs and contributions at the workshop including key findings and conclusions. 

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The document is structured as follows: 

- 

- 

It  first  provides  an  overview  of  the  size  and  composition  of  the  economically 
inactive  population  across  EU  Member  States  and  explores  the  main  institutional 
and individual barriers that people outside the labour market  must face in taking 
up employment.  

It then focuses  on sub-groups  of the inactive population central to current policy 
discussions and reports on the approaches of the participating PES to support the 
activation of the following target groups:  

  People with health problems and disabilities; 

  Socially  excluded  and  vulnerable  groups  such  as  young  people,  who  are 

inactive NEETS (not-in-education-or-training) or homeless people; 

  Women  with  caregiver  responsibilities  and  women  with  a  migration 

background.  

-  Finally, it summarises the main findings of the workshop.  

2.  Background: Overview of the size and composition of 

the economically inactive  

2.1  Who are the economically inactive?  

Harmonised  data  from  the  EU-LFS  provides  an  overview  of  the  scale  of  inactivity in  the 
EU-28.  The  majority  (80%)  of  the  non-employed  population  aged  15-64  are  considered 
inactive and only about 20% are unemployed. In 2018, the inactivity rate at EU-28 level 
was 26.3%. Largely due to the increased participation of women and higher employment 
rates among  older workers, the number  of  economically inactive persons has decreased 
since the beginning of this century. Despite this continuing downward trend, inactivity is 
still widespread in many EU countries.  

As  shown  in  Figure  1,  on  average  almost  one  in  four  working-age  people  are  inactive. 
The  extent  of  inactivity  varies  considerably  across  EU  Member  States.  It  is  twice  as 
common  to  be  inactive  in  Italy  (34%)  as  in  Sweden  (17%).  The  inactivity  rate  in  the 
other  26  countries  is  between  these  two  positions.  However,  Croatia,  Romania,  Greece 
and Belgium also record inactivity rates above 30%.  

Figure 1: Non-employment (inactivity and unemployment), 2018 
Percentage of working-age population (aged 15-64) 

Source: Eurostat (https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/en/web/lfs/data/database 

Profiles  of  the  economically  inactive  population  are  diverse  and  differ  across  Member 
States.  Inactivity  rates  vary  considerably  in  all  countries  depending  on  gender,  age, 

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origin, educational attainment and work  experience. The likelihood of  staying out of the 
labour market is more than three times greater for those with low educational attainment 
than for those with high educational attainment. This relationship between education and 
inactivity applies irrespective of gender and age (Eurostat 2018). 

Regardless of the national labour market situation, the rate of transition from inactivity to 
employment  is  usually  low,  which  indicates  there  are  structural  barriers.  However,  in 
Member  States  where  the  inactivity  rate  has  remained  quite  stable,  the  reasons  for 
inactivity  have  often  changed.  In  Belgium,  for  example,  the  size  of  the  inactive 
population  remained  nearly  stable  between  2007  and  2017.  However,  the  share  of  the 
inactive  reporting  sick  or  with  disabilities  increased  from  16%  in  2007  to  30%  in  2017, 
while those in retirement decreased (Country report Belgium, EC 2019a). 

2.2  Main reasons for inactivity 

Using  the  ILO  concept  of  the  labour  force,  the  inactive  (neither  employed  nor 
unemployed)  include  people  who  are  mainly  in  education  or  training  (35%  of  the 
inactive),  retired  (14%)  or  suffering  from  illness  or  disability  (16%).  It  also  includes 
those  who  are  looking  after  children  or  incapacitated  adults,  or  have  other  family  and 
caring responsibilities (17%), as well as those who are discouraged and think no work is 
available. Overall, the discouraged sub-group is quite small, only representing 4% of all 
inactive  persons.  However,  in  Italy,  Portugal,  Croatia  and  Latvia,  discouraged  workers 
remain relatively significant, with a share of more than 10% of all inactive persons.  

Excluding  persons  in  education  or  full-time  training  and  those  inactive  for  ‘other 
reasons’1,  the  three  main  categories  of  inactivity  in  the  European  Labour  Force  Survey 
are  (i)  family  and  caring  responsibilities,  (ii)  illness  and  disability,  and  (iii)  early 
retirement, accounting for nearly half of all inactive  persons in the EU-28. Based on EU-
LFS  data,  Figure  2  presents  an  overview  of  the  country-level  differences  of  inactive 
groups excluding those in full-time education and training.  

However, it should be noted that there are limitations on the international comparability 
of  self-reported information in the EU-LFS. For  example, inactivity due to disability may 
relate  to  country-specific  definitions  and  particular  institutional  features.  Hence,  some 
people may identify themselves as retired if they receive a pension, or as disabled if they 
receive  a  disability  benefit.  It  is  noteworthy  that  in  countries  with  high  inactivity  rates 
due  to  disability,  such  as  the  Nordic  countries,  (early)  retirement  is  relatively 
insignificant, indicating substitution effects within the social benefit system2.  

2.3  Country-specific patterns of inactivity 

An  analysis  of  the  inactive  population  (excluding  those  in  full-time  education  and 
training)  in  Figure  2  shows  that  the  inactive  are  a  particularly  large  group  in  Poland, 
Croatia,  Hungary,  Slovakia,  Ireland,  Malta,  Slovakia  and  Slovenia.  In  some  countries, 
several  sub-groups  are  above  the  respective  EU  average  while  in  other  countries 
(Germany, Latvia and Sweden) no group is larger than ‘at or above the EU average’. 

1   These groups are not considered in our analysis because they are not priority groups for activation. ‘Other 
inactive’  may  include  students  who  have  finished  education  but  who  have  not  yet  actively  begun  to  seek 
employment.  The  European  Labour  Force  Survey  (EU-LFS)  only  collects  the  main  reason  for  inactivity 
although other reasons might exist. 

2   When people in different countries state that they are inactive due to illness or disability it is quite difficult 
to  disaggregate  the  (partial)  inability  to  work  due  to  physical  or  mental  illness  from  national  disability 
policies favouring the ‘medicalisation’ of labour market problems (Konle-Seidl/Rhein, 2018).  

9 

2020 

                                                 
Figure 2: Breakdown of the ‘non-education’ category of inactive population as percentage 
of total population aged 15-64, by Member State, 2018 

Activation of the Inactive  

Source: Eurostat, author’s calculations 

Taking into account the employment gaps of specific sub-groups (OECD 2018a) Figure 2 
gives the following results:  

- 

Inactivity  due  to  disability  is  particularly  common  in  the  Nordic  countries 
(Denmark,  Norway)  but  the  employment  gap  of  disabled  people  compared  to 
prime-age men is highest in Hungary (70%) followed by Slovakia and Poland. It is 
also  high  in  Ireland  (60%),  the  Netherlands  and  Belgium  (52%).  While  some  of 
the employment gap can be clearly attributed to the lower educational attainment 
of the population with disabilities, the remaining gap is difficult to account for, as 
the underlying causes cannot be directly measured.  

-  Homemakers  with  family  and  caring  responsibilities  represent  a  large  group  in 
many countries, including Malta, Cyprus, Ireland, Italy and Poland. Mothers (aged 
25-54) with young children  have particularly high inactivity and low  employment 
rates, although the situation varies widely from country to country  as a  result of 

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different  policies  concerning  the  reconciliation  of  paid  work  with  family  life, 
including the cost of childcare when re-entering the labour market.  

- 

- 

(Early)  retirement  as  the  main  reason  for  inactivity  still  prevails  in  Croatia, 
Slovenia and Austria.  

In  2016,  for  all  EU  countries,  inactive  NEETs  account  for  6.2%  of  young  people 
aged 15-24. The inactive NEET  rate varies  considerably,  exceeding 10% in three 
Member States (Bulgaria, Italy and Romania) (EC 2017b).  

-  The  sub-group  of  discouraged  workers,  who  think  no  work  is  available,  remains 

comparatively high in Italy, Portugal, Croatia and Latvia.  

- 

In  a  longer-tem  context,  migrants  (non-natives)  are  generally  more  likely  to  be 
inactive  in  all  age  groups  than  their  native  peers.  While  activity  rates  for  mobile 
EU  citizens  aged  20-64  are,  on  EU28  average,  even  higher  than  for  native 
citizens, the activity gap for non-EU born and native-born was 9 percentage points 
in 2018.  

-  Women with a migration background born outside the EU record a 20 percentage 
point lower activity rate than men born outside the EU. Refugee women have the 
lowest  activity  rates  in  all  Member  States.  Bringing  refugee  women  into 
employment is thus a particularly significant challenge in all Member States. 

2.4  Activation potential  

The  stated  reasons  for  inactivity  in  the  EU-LFS  do  not  necessarily  imply  that  the 
individuals  concerned  cannot  or  do  not  want  to  work.  The  economically  inactive  have  a 
varying  degree  of  attachment  to  the  labour  market  meaning  they  also  have  a  varying 
activation potential. The  EU-LFS asks  respondents  who are inactive  whether they  would 
like to work an hour or more per week even though they are not actively seeking work. 
‘Willingness to work’ is prevalent among a considerable section of the inactive population. 
When  ‘willingness  to  work’  is  used  as  a  proxy  for  activation  potential,  EU-LFS  data 
suggests  that  about  one  in  five  of  the  inactive  population  are  in  principle  interested  in 
working  (see  Figure  A1  in  the  Annex).  This  potential  is  higher  in  Ireland,  Italy,  Austria 
and Denmark with one in four willing to work3.  

In  absolute  terms,  prime  age  women  (aged  25  to  49)  represent  the  largest  number  in 
the inactive ‘willing to work’ group.  Their reported willingness to work is high (32%). In 
particular, qualified women re-entering the labour market after an extended family break 
are a promising group for activation. The second largest group at EU-28 level are prime-
age  men  who  are  inactive  due  to  health  problems  or  disabilities.  By  contrast,  inactive 
older  workers  (aged  55-64)  are  on  average  less  interested  in  seeking  (full-time) 
employment,  which  makes  them  the  least  promising  target  for  PES  efforts  (Eurostat 
2019).  

2.5 

Institutional activation barriers  

Differences  across  countries  in  the  size  and  composition  of  the  inactive  population 
indicate  that  at  national  level  there  are  different  challenges  and  possibilities  to  activate 
the inactive. Often, inactivity is the outcome of choices and processes shaped by labour-
market  conditions,  societal  values,  individual  circumstances  and  the  legal  framework 

3   Studies based on detailed analysis of national LFS data confirm the willingness to work of different inactive 
sub-groups. In Austria, for example, 52% of inactive people with health problems or disabilities as reasons 
for inactivity say that they would like to work. In Estonia, 63% of recipients of incapacity benefits state that 
they would like to work. Among the NEET population, 42% of all inactive NEETs in Austria  report that they 
are not looking for a job, but would like to have one. In France, 64% of inactive women with at least one 
child under three would like to work (Eurofound 2017). 

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regarding  social  security  systems.  The  distinct  patterns  of  inactivity  at  national  level 
illustrated  in  Figure  2  above  indicate  that  idiosyncratic  institutional  settings  impact  the 
extent of labour market integration of different social groups.  

The  different  sets  of  policies  in  each  Member  State  (e.g.  pension  regulations,  the 
availability and cost of child care services, availability of parental leave and flexible work 
arrangements,  conditionality  of  benefit  receipt,  income  tax  systems)  may  or  may  not 
provide  incentives  for  the  labour  force  participation  of  inactive  groups.  Conditionality  of 
benefit receipt determines, for example, to what extent people are expected or required 
to  work.  They  also  determine  how  financially  attractive  work  is  and  to  what  extent 
employment  conditions  can  be  adapted  to  provide  a  suitable  work  environment.  Weak 
incentives to look for or accept a job can arise when there are only limited income gains 
from taking up a job or working, because net wages are low or because generous out-of-
work benefits are  withdrawn as people start to work.  In addition, people may decide to 
limit their work because they have access to other income sources (e.g. spouses of well-
paid primary earners). 

The extent of disincentives to work varies from country to country according to  

-  Early retirement regulations;  

-  Generosity and access to social benefits, i.e. sickness or disability benefits;  

-  Lack  of  and/or  high  cost  of  childcare  and  long-term  care  services,  and/or  high 

marginal tax rates for secondary earners.  

A lack of childcare is a strong disincentive for mothers with small children in Bulgaria, the 
Czech  Republic,  Greece,  Poland  and  Slovakia.  In  these  countries  the  low  participation 
rate  of  children  under  three  years  in  formal  childcare  is  considered  critical.    In  Ireland, 
Poland  and  the  Netherlands,  high  childcare-related  costs  constrain  the  labour  market 
participation  of  mothers  with  small  children.  In  the  case  of  Belgium,  Germany  and 
Denmark,  there  are  economic  disincentives  for  women  to  work  more  hours  because  of 
the high effective marginal tax rate for secondary earner, which constitutes an ‘inactivity 
trap’  and  prevents  women  from  (fully)  engaging  in  labour  market  activities  (European 
Commission 2017a).  

Several Member States have reformed social security legislation to transform an inactive 
benefit  (e.g.  disability  benefit)  into  an  active  benefit  (e.g.  unemployment  benefit).  The 
resulting  activation  of  employable  people  of  working  age  previously  in  receipt  of 
disability, early retirement, single-parent allowances or other ‘inactive’ minimum income 
benefits  mainly  occurred  in  countries  with  high  levels  of  benefit  coverage  and  with  a 
strong growth of non-employment benefit caseloads (e.g. disability benefits in the Nordic 
countries,  the  Netherlands  or  the  UK)4.  The  transfer  from  non-employment  benefits  to 
unemployment benefits resulted in an increase in client groups for the PES.  

2.6 

Individual activation barriers  

Besides country-specific institutional barriers, there are a set of common obstacles facing 
the inactive population at the individual level. These common activation barriers include:  

-  Low  employability  due  to  low  educational  attainment  and/or  lack  of  work 

experience;  

-  Health problems or disability;  

4   The  Dutch  Disability  Insurance  reforms  in  the  2000s,  for  example,  aimed  at  stimulating  work  resumption 
rates of those with temporary and less-severe impairments. While these reforms decreased disability benefit 
enrolment rates dramatically, they probably only slightly enhanced the work continuation of male individuals 
(not female) with poor health. The difficulty  of bringing disabled workers back to work is explained by  the 
high  incidence  of  mental  illness  among  the  disabled  who  are  still  mainly  awarded  a  disability  pension 
(Konig/Lindeboom 2015).  

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-  High level of social exclusion. 

These barriers often interact. People with health problems and disabilities are among the 
main groups that face multiple barriers in finding employment. Illness or disability is the 
second most important reason for the inactivity of older workers aged 55-64 (EC 2018). 
Among inactive people with low educational attainment, it is particularly common to have 
no  work  experience  or  to  have  childcare  responsibilities.  Many  inactive  people  who 
provide  elderly  care  are  also  frequently  limited  by  chronic  health  problems  or  disability. 
Hence, disadvantaged or vulnerable groups (individuals with disabilities and poor health, 
with immigrant background, ethnic minorities and individuals with low formal education) 
are overrepresented among the inactive population.  

There  are  substantial  variations  in  country  profiles  of  the  inactive5  stemming  from  the 
extent and type of barriers in each Member State. Data from the European Quality of Life 
Survey (EQLS) suggest that in some countries (e.g. Cyprus, Greece and Malta) five out of 
six  barriers  (low  educational  attainment,  health  problems  or  disability,  at  risk  of 
depression,  elderly  care  and  childcare  commitments,  and  a  high  social  exclusion  index) 
are  particularly  common.  In  other  countries  (e.g.  Austria,  Denmark,  Finland, 
Netherlands,  Germany)  inactive  people  are  not  particularly  likely  to  face  any  of  the  six 
barriers (Eurofound 2017).  

3.  The role of PES in activating the inactive 

The  PES  mandate  to  activate  specific  groups  among  the  inactive  population  very  much 
depends on national policy priorities. Activating (all groups of) the inactive is usually not 
a  policy  goal  of  Member  States,  although  Belgium  is  the  exception6.  The  policy  focus  is 
usually directed at specific groups who are underrepresented in the labour market. These 
groups  are  mostly  addressed  by  action  plans  (e.g.  for  youth  or  immigrants)  or  specific 
programmes (e.g. national programmes for older workers).  

It is particularly challenging for service providers, including PES, to activate the untapped 
employment  potential  of  distinct  groups  that  face  very  different  combinations  of 
employment  barriers.  While  PES  are  the  main  institutions  in  charge  of  activating  the 
unemployed,  the  inactive  population  is  not  their  traditional  target  group.  The 
economically inactive are usually not registered with PES and therefore are not ordinarily 
PES  clients7.  They  are  often  not  eligible  or  actively  targeted  by  many  of  the  PES 
activation schemes.  

PES  activation  measures  often  need  to  be  based  on  outreach,  particularly  when  the 
participation  of  inactive  people  is  voluntary.  One  of  the  most  common  challenges  faced 
by PES is the difficulty in locating and reaching out to the inactive population (EC 2018). 
In  practice,  outreach  options  depend  partly  on  whether  the  PES  already  has  a 
relationship  to  inactive  persons  in  the  target  group.  For  example,  if  inactive  persons 
receive welfare, parental leave, early retirement or disability benefits through the PES, or 
other state institutions, identification of and communication with inactive persons may be 

5   A  detailed  analysis  of  national  patterns  of  inactivity  would  highlight  the  country  specificities  of  the 
challenges involved in activating the inactive. Such an all-encompassing study is, however, beyond the scale 
of  this  thematic  paper.  For  example,  the  ‘faces  of  joblessness’  methodology,  developed  by  the  OECD  in 
cooperation  with  the  World  Bank  and  the  European Commission,  uses  such  an  all-encompassing  approach 
(Fernandez et al., 2016). 

6   In  Belgium,  increasing  the  labour  force  participation  of  the  inactive  is  seen  as  a  major  policy  challenge 

(https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/2019-european-semester-country-reports_en). 

7   Criteria for registering jobseekers differ across the EU. In some Member States, registered jobseekers may 
include individuals who are inactive or already employed. Registration with the PES is usually a pre-requisite 
for  access  to  active  labour  market  measures  and  job  search  support.  Consequently,  registration  rates 
impact strongly on the ability of PES to reach out to the inactive population.  

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facilitated  through  these  existing  relationships8.  Outreach  often  also  depends  on  the 
cooperation with other organisation such as NGOs, women’s and migrant organisations or 
other specialised social services.  

PES  measures  and  services  targeting  the  inactive  population  may  build  on  the  positive 
and effective elements  of labour market activation programmes for the unemployed but 
must  take  into  account  the  specific  challenges,  needs  and  preferences  that  the 
economically inactive face.  

Coordination  of  services  and  management  of  information  flows  are  often  a  challenging 
aspect  of  activation  measures.  Poor  coordination  seems  to  be  a  major  issue  in  several 
countries  (Eurofound  2017).  In  addition,  service  provision  must  manage  the  attitudes 
and  perceptions  of  employers.  Employers  often  use  inactivity  as  an  indicator  of  lack  of 
motivation and other undesirable personal traits.  

4.  PES approaches to activate the inactive  

4.1  Inactive groups targeted by participating PES  

Prior to the TRW in Riga, participants were asked to specify which groups of the inactive 
population  are  targeted  by  their  PES.  The  relative  importance  of  inactive  sub-groups 
among participating PES is shown in Table 1.  

Table 1: Relevance of inactive sub-groups among participating PES 

Sub-groups of inactive  

Inactive NEETS 

People with health problems and disabilities 

Women with care commitments 

Older workers (long-term unemployed or inactive) 

Migrants/refugees 

Other socially excluded 

% 

83 

58 

58 

50 

42 

33 

Source: Pre-event survey among participating PES (N=12), 2019 

As  shown  in  Table  1,  inactive  NEETs  are  still  a  priority  target  group  of  PES  in  most 
countries. In response to the Youth Guarantee  Programme  of the European Commission 
launched  in  2012,  most  Member  States  have  increased  their  efforts  using  all  relevant 
policy  levers  to  combat  youth  inactivity9.  Youth  Guarantee  measures  have  been  far 
reaching  in  several  Member  States  (e.g.  in  Portugal  or  Latvia),  contributing  to  lower 
youth unemployment and NEET rates. At EU-level, the current NEET rate (10.9%) is back 
to its pre-crisis level. There are, however, still large differences across countries and very 
high rates in some countries, particularly among immigrant youth (Eurostat 2019).  

8   A  number  of outreach  activities  can  be  found  in  a  study  commissioned by  the  European  PES  Network  (EC 

2018, Table 4-3, 78).  

9   There  is  an  extensive  literature  on  outreach  to  inactive  youth  and  activation  of  NEETs  including  PES 
practices.  Particular  good  or  promising  practices  on  the  NEET  issue  have  been  highlighted  in  many 
documents and are therefore not further discussed in this paper. Most documents and evaluation reports on 
NEETs are collected in the Youth Guarantee Knowledge Centre: 

   https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1327&langId=en  

14 

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Activation of the Inactive  

Specialised care for vulnerable youth  

Member States such as Spain are therefore increasing their efforts to support particularly 
difficult-to-reach groups among the NEET population, such as young immigrant refugees, 
young  people  with  physical  disabilities  or  young  Roma.  Due  to  persistent  high  youth 
unemployment as well as high premature school dropout rates, the Spanish government 
has  recently  adopted  an  ‘Action  Plan  for  Youth  Employment’  (2019-2021)  which  builds, 
inter  alia,  on  stronger  collaboration  with  a  range  of  stakeholders.  A  wide  network  of 
partnerships  coordinated  by  the  national  PES  (SEPE),  established  in  2017  to  implement 
the  Youth  Guarantee  Programme,  is  used  to  facilitate  outreach  to  the  difficult-to-reach 
groups  mentioned  above.  The  Action  Plan  includes  a  considerable  investment  in  hiring 
additional youth mediators and guidance counsellors as part of a network of 3,000 youth 
information  offices  across  the  country.  In  this  context,  the  Spanish  Red  Cross  helps 
young  refugees  to  register  for  the  Youth  Guarantee  Programme.  The  Spanish  National 
Organisation for Blind Persons (ONCE) helps young people with physical disabilities to do 
the  same.  The  ‘Gitano’  Foundation,  an  NGO  working  for  the  citizenship  rights  and  full 
inclusion of Roma persons, reaches out on behalf of the Youth Guarantee  Programme to 
young Roma. 

Older workers are more often long-term unemployed  

Half of the participating PES provide services for older workers, mainly to the long-term 
unemployed and sometimes to inactive older workers. Activity rates among older workers 
have  been  rising  over  the  past  decade  mainly  due  to  pension  reforms.  With  national 
differences in  pace and composition, the closing of early retirement options and curtailed 
alternative  paths  to  withdrawal  from  the  labour  market  have  contributed  to  declining 
inactivity rates among older workers (Konle-Seidl 2017). At the same time, older workers 
have become a growing clientele for PES as the rate of long-term unemployment among 
older workers has increased.  Insights into challenges and good practices to bring (long-
term) unemployed  older workers back to work  have already been highlighted in several 
documents  and  past  workshops,  and  so  they  were  not  discussed  further  at  this 
workshop10.  

The following sub-groups were selected for further discussion at the workshop:  

-  People with health problems and disabilities;  

-  Socially excluded and particularly vulnerable groups;  

-  Women with care commitments and women with a migration background.  

4.2  People with health problems and disabilities  

Health problems are a key driver of inactivity and activating people with health problems 
and disabilities is a pressing issue for the majority of participating PES (see  Table 1). To 
foster  the  labour  market  participation  of  disabled  people,  in  the  past,  Member  States 
have  implemented  a  variety  of  policies  such  as  anti-discrimination legislation,  quotas  to 
encourage  the  hiring  of  disabled  job-seekers,  greater  provision  of  supported  and 
subsidised  employment,  earlier  vocational  rehabilitation  and  a  streamlined  institutional 
set-up. Encouraging recipients of sickness and disability benefits to become more active 
in their efforts to seek work has also involved financial incentives compensating for lower 

10   The  toolkit  ‘PES  and  older  workers’  provides  insights  into  challenges  and  good  practices  to  bring 
unemployed  older  workers  back  to  work  (EC  2012).  Promising  practices  are  also  highlighted  in  the  PES 
knowledge  database,  such  as  ‘Still  Active’  targeted  at  unemployed  older  workers  in  Poland.  Nonetheless, 
given the persistent  high long-term unemployment rates among older workers, there will be an increasing 
need for innovative employment promotion strategies for older (long-term) unemployed workers supported 
with the necessary resources. 

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Activation of the Inactive  

earnings than previously, job-search support requiring contact with employment services 
and participation in rehabilitation programmes before granting a disability benefit.  

However,  rehabilitation  services  have  remained  underdeveloped,  underfunded  or 
underused in many countries. Spending on rehabilitation measures is very limited, except 
in  the  Nordic  countries,  France  and  Germany.  Rehabilitation  services  in  these  countries 
are  administered  or  signposted  by  the  PES.  Reviews  of  existing  policies  suggest  that 
early  intervention  is  important  for  people  on  sick  leave  or  on  other  welfare  benefits 
(OECD  2010,  OECD  2015).  However,  the  evidence  about  return-to-work  policies  is 
fragmented.  Evaluation  studies  often  focus  on  individual  schemes,  which  are  mostly 
linked to particular institutional environments. It is thus not easy to generalise from their 
results (Jones 2016)11. 

Against  this  background,  representatives  from  the  Flemish  PES  (VDAB)  and  from  the 
Estonian  PES  presented  promising  approaches.  Belgium  and  Estonia  are  both  countries 
with  an  increasing  share  of  inactive  people  due  to  health  problems.  Activating  people 
with  health  problems  is  therefore  high  on  the  political  reform  agenda  in  both  countries 
(EC 2019a). 

The  starting  point  of  the  Flemish  approach  is  the  belief  that  effective  disability  policies 
require  coordination  and  extensive  cooperation.  To  this  purpose,  all  actors  (PES, 
insurance  funds,  municipalities,  rehabilitation  centres,  hospital  departments,  patient 
organisations, employers) are brought together in committees at regional level. VDAB is 
just one actor, although an important one, in such an ‘eco-system’.  According to VDAB, 
a  key  lesson  from  the  Flemish  example  is  that  investing  in  cooperation  with  all 
stakeholders pays off. Using a common language and vision (‘focusing on ability instead 
of disability’) is often a first important step to build real cooperation based on a person-
oriented  and  multi-dimensional  approach.  In  the  view  of  VDAB,  one  of  the  main 
impediments  to  activate  sick  people  is  the  benefit  system.  Sickness  benefits  in  Belgium 
are  paid  without  any  time  limit  and  therefore  do  not  particularly  ‘motivate’  people  to 
return to work.  

In  contrast  to  Belgium,  the  starting  point  of  activation  measures  in  Estonia  consists  in 
strengthening the link between benefit receipt and labour market participation for people 
with  reduced  work  ability.  The  Estonian  PES  is  a  key  actor  in  implementing  the  ‘work 
ability  reform’.  To  support  the  reform,  the  PES  changed  its  service  model  by  extending 
their  active  measures  and  by  reforming  employment  counselling.  There  are  now  three 
types  of  employment  counsellors:  job  mediation  counsellors,  case  managers,  and 
disability  employment  counsellors.  The  workload  has  decreased  and  each  disability 
counsellor is responsible for not more than 100 clients (see box 2). 

The work ability reform is considered successful as in the three years since its launch it 
has  led  to  an  increase  in  the  number  of  people  with  long-term  health  problems  and 
disabilities registered with the  PES.  It  has also led to  an increase in the number of  sick 
people in work. Nearly every second jobseeker (44%) now finds a job within 12 months 
after registration12.  

11   The  German  case  is  illustrative  in  this respect.  Within  the  comprehensive  German vocational  rehabilitation 
system,  further  training  measures  commissioned  by  the  PES  have  shown  a  positive  impact  on  the  re-
integration of persons with health limitations (Reims/Tophoven 2018). However, the German example might 
be  difficult  to  apply  in  countries  where  rehabilitation  services  have  remained  underdeveloped  and 
underfunded.  

12   Further information on the work ability reform in Estonia can be accessed here: 
   https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=21923&langId=en  

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Activation of the Inactive  

Box 2: Work ability reform in Estonia (2016) 

From disability to work ability 

Fundamental changes 

-  A work ability assessment focusing on what people can do, rather than on their 

limitations; 

-  Work ability benefit – a flat rate amount with earnings-related reductions; 

-  Activation – anyone at least partially able to work is required to be active and 

either work, study or look for a job with the help of the local PES office;  

-  Employment  counselling  and  social  welfare  measures  were  broadened  and 

extended. 

PES as a key actor supports the implementation of the reform by:  

-  A new service model with disability counsellors and chief consultants; 

-  Lower workload and more time allocated for counselling;  

-  Providing  a  range  of  new  measures  (e.g.  work-related  rehabilitation,  peer 

counselling, supported employment). 

Main levers 

-  Changes in social security legislation (‘conditionality’);  

-  Mind  shift  (‘focusing  on  ability  instead  of  disability’)  among  all  actors 

(employers, doctors, patient organisations and society in general); 

-  Specialised  PES  staff  and  adequate  staff  and  IT  resources,  timely  delivery  on 

promises. 

Remaining challenges 

-  Existing skill gaps among the target group;  

-  Quality of work offers (income, sustainability); 

-  Limited availability of social services. 

Source: Author’s compilation based on the Estonian PES presentation at the workshop  

4.3  Socially excluded and other particularly vulnerable groups  

In order to support the goal of promoting the active inclusion of all citizens, particularly 
the  most  disadvantaged,  several  Member  States  have  adopted  action  plans  to  promote 
the active inclusion of vulnerable groups, specifically youth, homeless people, victims of 
domestic violence and refugees.  

Outreach to victims of domestic violence and homeless people 

As  part  of  the  ‘Action  Plan  on  Preventing  and  Combating  Violence  against  Women  and 
Domestic  Violence’  (2018-2021),  the  Portuguese  PES  (IEFP)  is  responsible  for 
implementing  measures  to  empower  victims,  particularly  through  their  integration  into 
active  labour  market  programmes  (ALMPs)  or  employment.  The  PES  does  so  by  giving 
priority to domestic violence victims when it comes to  registration, access to job offers, 
and integration into training or active employment measures. The PES  seeks to create a 
safe environment for the victims of violence by holding meetings with them in a private 
environment and by assigning a caseworker as a fixed contact person in each local office.  

The  PES  also  has  a  major  role  in  preventing  homelessness  and  in  supporting  the  social 
and  professional  reintegration  of  homeless  people.  However,  only  20%  of  this  target 
group register with the PES. Homeless people are assisted with an individual action plan 
and  a  personal  caseworker  liaises  with  the  authorities  responsible  for  initiating  the 

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Activation of the Inactive  

intervention in the first place. However, the PES faces serious limitations when preparing 
these  vulnerable  groups  for  labour  market  integration.  Labour  market  support  for 
homeless  people  as  well  as  for  victims  of  domestic  violence  is  often  constrained  by  a 
variety of more fundamental problems such as health and emotional problems, frequent 
changes of address, lack of social skills and difficulties in complying with timetables and 
rules.  Often,  PES  can  only  usefully  act  after  other  institutions  have  resolved  such 
problems. 

Joining forces for effectively activating welfare recipients 

In  the  past,  activation  of  the  unemployed  has  involved  changes  in  administrative 
arrangements  in  order  to  coordinate  the  provision  of  unemployment  and  other  out-of-
work  benefits  more  closely  with  the  employment  services  so  as  to  increase  the 
responsiveness  and  effectiveness  of  activation  policies.  For  example,  Germany,  France 
and the Netherlands have created ‘one-stop shops’ by merging employment services with 
the  administration  of  welfare  benefits  (Clasen/Clegg  (eds.)  2011).  In  other  Member 
States, a more effective cooperation between benefit and employment services remains a 
challenge.  The  Latvian  PES  emphasised  the  need  for  a  more  effective  cooperation 
between  social  services  and  the  PES  to  activate  disadvantaged  social  assistance 
recipients.  In  Latvia,  municipalities  are  responsible  for  social  assistance  (‘welfare’)  and 
the  PES  is  in  charge  of  activating  recipients.  The  labour  market  integration  of  welfare 
recipients  has  been  hampered  in  the  past  because  benefit  recipients  could  play  off  the 
PES and the  social service against each  other.  There  were no consequences in terms  of 
welfare  benefits  for  non-compliance  with  PES  demands.  A  regional  PES  branch  recently 
set up a pilot project to develop a joint approach to their common clients. The pilot aims 
to  share  information  via  a  common  database  and  to  align  individual  action  plans.  The 
most  disadvantaged  sub-groups  among  welfare  recipients  such  as  single  parents  are 
offered temporary subsidised employment under the public work scheme. Apart from this 
cooperation with municipal social services, the PES actively promotes the involvement of 
NGOs in PES services, for example with social mentors.  

4.4  Women with caregiver responsibilities  

For  the  majority  of  participating  PES,  women  with  care  commitments  are  a  relevant 
target  group  (see  Table  1).  As  mentioned  above,  economically  inactive  working-age 
women  present  an  important  unused  potential  for  the  labour  market.  Mobilising  this 
potential is usually a joint responsibility of several institutions, including the PES, regional 
and local authorities and the social partners.  

Some  but  not  all  Member  States  have  introduced  targeted  measures  to  encourage 
women with young children to re-enter the labour market. These measures include work-
life  balance  policies  such  as  gender-balanced  family-related  leave,  flexible  working 
arrangements  and  formal  care  services,  as  well  as  policies  to  limit  the  economic 
disincentives for women to work (EC 2017a).  A range of services is provided to inactive 
women. A substantial share of the target group already has a relationship with PES or to 
another governmental body, as they are recipients of social benefits, or mandatory social 
contributions.  The  most  commonly  used  outreach  strategy  is  to  refer  clients  within  or 
between  public  institutions.  Information  leaflets,  posters,  websites  or  phone  assistance 
are practices used to spread information about existing services (EC 2018).  

Measures  often  explicitly  target  the  transition  from  childcare  and  family  responsibilities. 
Numerous  local  European  Social  Fund  (ESF)  projects  aim  to  compensate  for  skills 
obsolescence  during  maternity  or  parental  leave.  A  second  type  of  measure  aims  at 
providing financial incentives for re-entry into employment, through subsidised childcare 
or  other  services.  A  review  of  PES  measures  shows  that  several  PES  offer  special 
employment  counselling  combined  in  some  cases  with  training  to  women  wanting  to 
return  to  work  after  a  career  break.  In  Austria  and  Germany  (Perspective  -  return  to 

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Activation of the Inactive  

work)  or  in  the  Czech  Republic  (Helping  new  mothers  back  into  work)  (EC  2018),  such 
programmes have existed for several years.  

The example presented at the workshop focused on re-entry counselling provided by the 
German  PES  (BA-Bundesagentur  für  Arbeit)  for  women  wanting  to  return  to  work  after 
an  extended  family  break.  The  approach  consists  of  three  phases:  activation, 
accompaniment  and  consolidation.  Although  considered  a  promising  strategy,  the 
counselling  programme  will  be  discontinued  and  in  the  future  integrated  in  the  new 
division of lifelong career guidance at BA.  

The  rules  governing  joint  income  taxation  for  married  couples  or  those  in  a  partnership 
are a major limitation on BA activities to motivate women to use their full potential. The 
tax system has strong disincentive effects on secondary earners and is the main reason 
why women  only take up small part-time jobs, or ‘mini-jobs’  instead of regular part- or 
full-time  employment.  In  the  European  context,  disincentives  effects  for  secondary 
earners are particularly high in Belgium and Germany (Bick et al., 2018). 

4.5  Women with a migration background (including refugee women)  

Women  with  a  migration  background  born  outside  the  EU  record  on  average  a  20 
percentage point lower activity rate than non-EU born men (OECD 2018b). This concerns 
both women who have resided in the country for many years (e.g. women from Morocco 
or  Turkey)  and  refugee  women  who  have  recently  arrived.  Refugee  women  perform 
worse  in  all  European  labour  markets  and  have  the  lowest  activity  rates  in  all  Member 
States.  Therefore,  bringing  refugee  women  into  employment  is  a  particularly  significant 
challenge,  especially  in  Member  States  with  high  refugee  inflow  rates  in  recent  years 
(Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden).  

Gender  employment  gaps  endure  across  time  even  in  Member  States  that  are  long-
standing  destination  countries  for  immigrants  such  as  Sweden.  This  may  relate  to 
traditional  gender  roles,  lack  of  provision  of  gender-sensitive  integration  measures  and 
delayed  access  to  formal  networks.  Nonetheless,  understanding  the  interaction  of 
influences  upon  integration  outcomes  requires  further  investigation  (Cheung  and 
Phillimore 2017)13. 

Although  the  aim  of  increasing  labour  force  participation  of  foreign-born  women  is  a 
priority for integration policy in several countries, specific programmes are scarce. There 
are  only  a  few  ESF  programmes  such  as  ‘Mirjam’  (From  empowerment  to  employment: 
job-related support for refugee women) in Sweden or the German programme ‘Stark im 
Beruf’ (‘Strong at work’). A more recent programme, set up by the German PES is PerF-
W  (Perspectives  for  female  refugees)  specifically  targeting  refugee  women.  There  is  no 
evaluation  of  this  specific  programme  so  far  but  experience  indicates  that  some  issues 
are  particularly  relevant.  For  example,  because  refugee  women  often  lack  contact  with 
the  host  society,  outreach  is  particularly  important  and  is  associated  with  a  strong 
improvement  in  labour  market  outcomes.  Mentorship  can  be  a  way  to  provide  such 
contacts (OECD 2018b). 

13   Data from the German refugee survey show, for example, that the probability of being gainfully employed is 
highest  for  those  who  have  completed  integration  and  labour  market  programmes  (31%)  and  lowest  for 
those  who  have  not  yet  participated  or  are  currently  participating  (16%).  Although  refugee  women 
particularly  benefit  from  participating  in  these  programmes,  their  labour  market  participation  lags  behind. 
Differences in employment rates between refugee men and refugee women  appear not to be solely due to 
family  structures,  as  only  6%  of  refugee  women  without  children  in  the  household  compared  to  30%  of 
refugee men without children in the household are working (IAB Brief Report 3/2019).  

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Activation of the Inactive  

The Flemish PES (VDAB) commissioned an in-depth study on the specific barriers women 
with  a  migration  background  face.  One  of  the  main  barriers  identified  in  the  study  are 
household responsibilities and (perceived) discrimination of women wearing a  headscarf. 
Three  quarters  of  migrant  women  interviewed,  of  whom  54%  were  first  generation 
immigrants, did not have a job, nor received social benefits. The vast majority were in a 
partnership.    A  major  conclusion  of  the  study  is  that  in  order  to  activate  this  group  a 
range  of  barriers,  such  as  lack  of  motivation  and  self-esteem,  lack  of  experience, 
competences and opportunities for job search, must first be addressed. 

5.  Summary of key issues  

This  section  summarises  the  most  important  findings  and  key  conclusions  of  the 
workshop clustered according to the main topics discussed at the event. 

5.1  How far should PES get involved? 

The  experiences  presented  at  the  workshop  made  clear  that  individual  PES  can  take  a 
variety  of  practical  steps  to  activate  distinct  sub-groups  among  the  inactive,  often 
because  of  the  different  national  systems  in  which  they  operate  and  the  scope  of  their 
mandates. 

Participating PES agreed that extending PES core services to the inactive is important but 
there are a number of challenges starting with conceptualising and framing the tasks to 
be included in PES agenda, and then considering how to improve PES capacity to address 
the  needs  of  particularly  vulnerable  groups.  More  resources,  specialised  training  for 
counsellors and new methodologies are required. In this context, it was highlighted that 
when PES are given increased responsibilities to serve more groups of formerly inactive, 
it is not necessarily associated with more resources. While some PES have less problems 
to  extend  their  budget  to  include  non-traditional  groups,  other  PES  still  struggle  with 
budget  restrictions.  For  example,  in  Poland,  there  is  no  strategy  and  consequently  no 
legal guidance on funding for extending services to non-traditional PES customer groups.  

The existence of distinct sub-groups requires very different and multiple types of support 
and  hence  cooperation  with  other  institutions.  A  key  issue  raised  during  the  workshop 
was how much should be carried out by PES and how much by others given that many of 
the non-economically active are not yet able or ready to (re-)enter the labour market.  

The workshop clearly highlighted the country differences in mandates to serve more 
groups  of  formerly  inactive.  In  most  countries,  PES  are  usually  just  one  partner  in  an 
‘eco-system’ that includes a variety of services and organisations to support the inactive. 
In a few countries where the activation of (all groups of) inactive has become a priority in 
labour market policy, as is recently the case in Belgium, PES have been given a leading 
role. This has advantages in terms of resources and the relative importance allocated to 
the PES. A  leading role, however, also  brings the risk  of overburdening the PES with 
tasks for which it is not prepared. The Estonian case is instructive in this respect, where 
the  PES  has  taken  over  the  work  ability  assessment  of  disabled  people  from  social 
security organisations. A leading role can also entail the risk that partners take on a more 
passive role. This has been the case in Belgium where VDAB has been given the lead role 
in  a  steering  committee  of  14  organisations  involved  in  a  project  on  the  activation  of 
women with a migration background with the consequence that the other partners have 
reduced their commitment.  

5.2  Aligning social protection schemes with PES activation efforts 

PES  actions  are  strongly  influenced  by  the  local  context.  A  clear  insight  from  the 
workshop  is  that  activation  cannot  ignore  the  role  and  impact  of  social  protection 
schemes  and  their  provisions.  There  are  important  complementarities  between  PES 
activation  efforts  and  social  protection  measures.  Benefit  reforms  are  a  pre-

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condition  for  effective  activation,  as  convincingly  shown  by  examples  from  Belgium, 
Estonia and Latvia. A generous benefit system, such as the unlimited sickness allowance 
in  Belgium,  has  proved  a  barrier  for  the  effective  activation  of  people  with  health 
problems  and  disabilities.  In  Latvia,  PES  activation  programmes  for  welfare  benefit 
recipients  are  hampered  because  the  requirement  to  engage  in  supported  job  search 
could  not  be  enforced  due  to  different  administrative  responsibilities  for  benefits  and 
services. Latvia now will implement a collaborative model with municipalities to overcome 
this  kind  of  barrier.  In  contrast,  PES  activation  programmes  in  Estonia  for  people  with 
reduced work ability were able to build positively on the reform which made the receipt 
of  a  new  work  ability  benefit  conditional  on  participation  in  the  labour  market.  PES 
actions can also be supported by regulations allowing people with reduced work capacity 
to  combine  income  from  work  with  income  from  sickness  or  disability  benefits  while 
gradually increasing the number of hours worked.  

In  the  presentations  and  discussions  at  the  workshop,  it  became  evident  that 
motivation  based  on  economic  incentives  plays  a  key  role  in  activating  target  groups 
with low  or  no  attachment  to  the  labour  market.  In  case  contexts  where  conditions  are 
discouraging work motivation, PES have to use non-economic levers. In order to increase 
the  motivation  of  secondary  earners  facing  high  marginal  tax  rates,  for  example,  it  is 
crucial  to  emphasise  other  benefits  of  work,  such  as  personal  development  or  social 
contacts. To motivate women with a migration background who are neither economically 
active  nor  receiving  social  benefits,  it  may  be  important  to  build  on  their  existing 
experience  and  skills,  which  can  also  be  of  use  in  paid  work,  such  as  volunteering  in 
different associations or care for others apart from their own children. 

5.3  Managing cooperation  

Since most inactive groups are not registered with the PES and thus not known to them, 
the outreach to inactive and difficult-to-reach groups depends on close partnerships with 
a  variety  of  public  and  private  stakeholders.  Given  that  many  economically  inactive 
people  are  not  yet  able  or  ready  to  (re-)enter  the  labour  market,  support  from  other 
institutions  is  clearly  required.  Therefore,  communication  and  cooperation  is  a  crucial 
feature of the actions undertaken by the PES vis-a-vis different target groups, including 
NGOs.  

There was consensus among participating PES that cooperation with other stakeholders is 
the  only  way  PES  can  hope  to  be  successful,  as  some  barriers  cannot  realistically  be 
addressed by  PES.  However,  it is crucial that associated problems are resolved in order 
to  achieve  eventual  labour  market  integration.  A  person-based  approach  for  a  young 
vulnerable  person,  for  example,  requires  a  variety  of  services  from  a  variety  of  service 
providers.  The  Spanish  example  is  an  impressive  example:  the  government  has 
entrusted the national PES (SEPE) to manage cooperation by coordinating a network of 
more than 30 organisations to implement the current action plan for youth employment. 
This Spanish example also shows that integrating services in a way that works for clients 
is challenging and requires time.  

Experiences from Belgium suggest that investing in cooperation pays off. In the case 
of  people  with  health  problems  and  disabilities,  effective  cooperation  in  an  ‘eco-system 
for  the  client’  starts  with  using  a  ‘common  language  and  vision’  among  the  various 
stakeholders. From the discussions at the  workshop, it became clear  that the activation 
of people with health problems and disabilities requires a general mind shift by focusing 
on a person’s remaining capacity for work rather than their incapacity. Such a mind shift 
is  necessary  not  just  among  employers  but  also  among  doctors,  patient  organisations 
and society in general; and even in the PES themselves so they are considered credible 
as organisations providing services for inclusiveness.  

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Easily  accessible  information  systems  and  joint  databases  are  needed  to  support  the 
effective management of cooperation. Workshop participants demonstrated great interest 
in  innovative  ways  to  outreach  to  young  people,  for  example  by  using  electronic  data 
systems about the activity status of young people. The example of a joint database of the 
PES and the education system allowing case managers to contact young people in danger 
of school dropout also triggered a lively discussion on data protection.  

The  presentations  at  the  workshop  indicate  that  coordination  among  stakeholders 
has improved in recent years in several Member States, mainly due to work undertaken 
in  the  context  of  the  implementation  of  the  Youth  Guarantee  Programme.  Further 
activation  work  can  build  on  these  improvements  in  terms  of  communication,  exchange 
of experiences and structures.  

5.4  New ways to reach out to employers  

Another  question  raised  at  the  workshop  was  how  to  reach  out  to  employers  and 
familiarise  them  with  the  potential  of  jobseekers.  It  was  highlighted  that  in  the  case  of 
people with health problems and disabilities, it is important for PES to address the image, 
ideas and stereotypes that employers have about this sub-group. To change perceptions, 
some  PES  organise  fairs  where  employers  can  meet  disabled  people  or  job  coaches.  A 
promising  approach  to  employers  is  practised,  for  example,  in  Ghent  (Belgium)  where 
meetings  are  organised  with  10  employers  and  10  job  coaches  with  CVs  from  disabled 
people to try and match them. Other ways to familiarise employers with the potential of 
jobseekers  from  this  sub-group  include  seminars  for  employers  organised  by  PES 
employer advisers, and on-the-job learning.  

Linking  inclusion  and  innovation  may  be  a  promising  basis  for  sustainable  PES 
integration  efforts.  An  inspiring  way  to  combine  inclusion  and  innovation  is  to  put  the 
business case and employers’ needs at the core of an employer outreach strategy. Based 
on  the  insight  that  staff  diversity  is  conducive,  if  not  a  condition  for,  an  innovative 
business culture, the Flemish PES (VDAB) is promoting an ‘inclusive employer’ strategy. 
Its  #ZeroExclusion  approach  is  primarily  directed  at  companies  practicing  a  culture  of 
innovation based on a diverse workforce. In this setting, companies are ambassadors of 
inclusive workplaces and the role of PES is to bring companies together and promote the 
exchange of ideas and experiences. For employers to be convinced, the PES itself has to 
take inclusion in its own organisation seriously. 

6.  Conclusions 

In  many  Member  States,  PES  have  increasingly  been  involved  in  activating  non-
traditional client groups to make labour markets more inclusive (‘activation for inclusion’) 
and to mobilise the unused potential of underrepresented groups in the labour market. In 
doing so, the PES mandate varies across countries ranging from acting as just a partner 
in  an  ‘eco-system’  of  stakeholders  to  taking  on  a  leading  role  in  organising  support  for 
distinct target groups. 

Work  on  inclusiveness,  however,  often  has  a  long  way  to  go.  The  presentations  and 
discussions  at  the  workshop  recommend  carefully  sequenced  activation  and  (pre-) 
employment  support  measures,  as  well  as  coordination  across  policy  domains  and 
institutions. PES often choose to combine an individually-tailored approach with targeting 
group-specific  barriers.  This  strategy  has  been  described  as  ‘zoom  into  certain  groups 
first,  and  then  address  individual  barriers’.  Learning  about  both  group-based  and 
individual  barriers  and  how  to  tackle  them  is  a  pre-condition  for  paving  the  way  to 
activation and inclusion. 

There  are  clear  limitations  on  PES  capacity  to  tackle  the  employment  barriers  of  the 
economically  inactive  as  policy  levers  are  often  institutionally  determined,  such  as  high 

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tax  rates  for  secondary  earners  or  social  security  provisions  and,  therefore,  outside  the 
competence of PES. Motivating the distinct target groups thus remains a challenge.  

However, PES can address the stereotypes and images held by employers and the public 
about  specific  target  groups,  such  as  people  with  disabilities  or  women  wearing 
headscarves  or  with  a  migration  background.  Campaigning  is  essential  to  change  the 
mind-set  of  the  public  and  employers  alike;  and  even  in  the  PES  itself  so  as  to  be 
credible as an inclusive service provider.  

Despite  important  differences  regarding  the  framework  conditions  and  capacity  of  the 
participating PES, there was ample  room  for  exchange and practical learning during the 
workshop. There was useful learning about strategies for the outreach of inactive young 
people and other groups. Participants  also learnt about innovative ways of working with 
employers  and  about  specialised  training  for  disability  counsellors,  which  are  good 
practices that could be transferred to their own organisations. 

References 

Authors 

Bick, A., Brüggemann, B., Fuchs-Schündeln, N., Paule-Paludkiewicz, H. (2018), Long-
Term Changes in Married Couples’ Labor Supply and Taxes: Evidence from the US and 
Europe since the 1980s, Cesifo Working Papers, 7267, September 2018.  

Cheung, S. Y. and Phillimore, J. (2017), Gender and Refugee Integration: a Quantitative 
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2, April 2017, pp. 211-230. 

Clasen,  J.,  Clegg,  D.  (eds.)  (2011),  Regulating  the  risk  of  unemployment.  National 
adaptations to post-industrial labour markets in Europe, Oxford University Press. 

Fernandez, R., Immervoll, H., Pacifico, D. and Thevenot, C. (2016), Faces of joblessness: 
Characterising employment barriers to inform policy, OECD, Paris. 

IAB  Brief  Report  (2019),  ‘Second  wave  of  the  IAB-BAMF-SOEP  Survey:  Language  skills 
and  employment  rate  of  refugees  improving  with  time’.  IAB-Kurzbericht,  03/2019  (en), 
Nürnberg; http://doku.iab.de/kurzber/2019/kb0319_englisch.pdf 

Jones, M. (2016), Disability and labor market outcomes, IZA World of Labour 2016:253. 

Koning, P. and Lindeboom, M. (2015), The Rise and Fall of Disability Insurance Enrolment 
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Konle-Seidl, R. and Rhein, T. (2018), Long-term unemployment: a European comparison, 
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Konle-Seidl,  R.  (2017),  Retention  and  re-integration  of  older  workers  into  the  labour 
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Reims,  N.  and  Tophoven,  S.  (2018),  A  Longitudinal  Study  on  Labour  Market  Transitions 
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Institutional authors 

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OECD  (2010),  Sickness,  Disability  and  Work:  Breaking  the  Barriers.  OECD    Publishing, 
Paris  

OECD  (2015),  Mental  Health  and  Work  Fit  Mind,  Fit  Job.  From  Evidence  to  Practice  in 
Mental Health and Work, OECD Publishing, Paris 

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OECD (2018a), Good Jobs for All in a Changing World of Work:The OECD Jobs Strategy, 
OECD Publishing, Paris, https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264308817-en. 

OECD  (2018b),  Triple  Disadvantage?  A  first  overview  of  the  integration  of  refugee 
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Eurofound  (2017),  Reactivate:  Employment  opportunities  for  economically  inactive 
people, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. 

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Services. Author: Ágota Scharle. 
http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=14077&langId=en 

European Commission (2016), Disability and Labour Market Integration, Analytical Paper, 
Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. 
https://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=16601&langId=en  

European Commission (2017a), European Semester: Thematic factsheet - Women in the 
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https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/european-semester_thematic-factsheet_labour-
force-participation-women_en_0.pdf 

European Commission (2017b), European Semester. Thematic factsheet- Youth 
Employment 2017, Brussels, 22 November 2017. 
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/file_import/european-semester_thematic-
factsheet_youth_employment_en.pdf 

European Commission (2017c), Peer Review on ‘Integration of Refugees into the Labour 
Market’, Berlin, 11-12 October 2017. 

https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=1274&newsId=9009&furtherNew
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European  Commission  (2018),  The  Role  of  PES  in  Outreach  to  the  Inactive  Population. 
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European  Commission 
https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/2019-european-semester-country-reports_en 

(2019a),  2019  European  Semester:  Country  Reports. 

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Report. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. 

Eurostat (2018), Statistics Explained: People outside the labour market. Data extracted 
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explained/index.php/People_outside_the_labour_market#Fewer_people_outside_the_lab
our_force_in_2017 

Eurostat  (2019),  Statistics  explained:  Underemployment  and  potential  additional  labour 
force statistics. Data extracted in October 2019. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-
explained/index.php/Underemployment_and_potential_additional_labour_force_statistics 

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Annex 

Figure A1: Inactive persons wanting to work but not searching, 2018 
Percentage of the inactive population, aged 15-64  

Source: Eurostat 

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