Europe's social divisions – gender and generational inequality in the service-based economy

1. Europe's social divisions – gender and generational inequality in the service-based economy Patrick Diamond, Equality & Human Rights Commission

2. Debates about economic inequality in Europe confuse three separate questions: • Income poverty • Income mobility • Income inequality Transfixed by threat of globalisation. Often blind to new gender and generational inequities.

3. Today two major socio-economic challenges are transforming Europe: • Demographic - new gender relationships; women's increased aspiration for personal independence; the ageing workforce; rising migration • Post-industrial - knowledge-based economy within a framework of increased economic internationalisation & liberalisation

4. Is it all about globalisation? • Yes - some loss of low skilled jobs, some delocalisation, some outsourcing • No - internally-driven pressures, new inequities run within as much as between classes

5. Emergence of new social risks - Europe is ill-equipped to respond due to outdated welfare & social model that does not address: • Challenge of reconciling work & care • Obsolescence of professional skills • Relationship breakdown & family instability • Accentuation of dependency • Marginalisation & actual exclusion

6. Risk of social polarisation: increasing poverty & income inequality; declining social mobility; higher levels of child poverty: • Growth of single parents families (4.4% of all EU households) - a third at risk of poverty: 18 million of the EU's 94 million children at risk of poverty • Youth unemployment double general unemployment (over 20% in France, Italy, Spain) • Cities attracting 'creative class' prosper - but old industrial towns decline • Rising dependency - among 55-64 yr olds 40% of men & 60% of women have dropped out of the labour market • Job growth concentrated in knowledge-intensive sectors: EU15 - 6% overall but 24% in KBE: two-thirds of new jobs high-skilled

7. Social polarisation creates fear of new cultural divisions: • Asylum-seekers and migrants blamed for abusing welfare - yet discrimination & educational under-achievement rife • Alienated traditional white working-class • Impact of pervasive commercialisation, including on childhood • Hedonic treadmill of consumption hits poorest - obesity, alcoholism, mental illness

8. In summary, need new forms of redistribution - of risk as well as income: • Promote dynamic equality to combat child poverty: tackle social inheritance by shifting resources from university education to early years and primary education • Re-write contract between generations: work-life policies, paternal leave incentives, tax deductions, employability; but also greater focus on over 80s to ensure more equitable 'end of life' • Tackle 'insider/outsider' cleavages: status quo benefit systems penalise women, young people, minorities e.g. pensions, atypical jobs • Make taxes fairer: in global economy where productivity gains advantage capital and penalise labour, fiscal burden falls disproportionately on lowest paid

9. Conclusion • Address mismatch between work & welfare: aim - gender equal dual earning societies: realise women's contribution to productivity & social cohesion • Fairer distribution of burdens between generations • New approaches to integration: social & economic inclusion