Unemployment Protection in Changing Labour Markets

The International Labour Organization's Future of Work initiative and the United Nation's Sustainability Goals call for inclusiveness by providing more reliable and adequate social protection. This chapter focuses on unemployment insurance benefits (UIB), drawing on examples primarily from European Union countries. Unemployment insurance benefits are commonly designed on the basis of so-called ‘standard employment’, as a result of which such benefits for persons not conforming to this ‘norm’ are often deficient. The ongoing flexibilization of labour thus poses problems for the inclusiveness of unemployment insurance benefit systems. The Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic revealed coverage gaps and insufficient levels of unemployment benefits, affecting non-standard workers in particular. However, these crises also spurred innovation, including the (temporary) expansion of unemployment insurance.

We argue that the future of work is closely tied to proactive and inclusive support for the unemployed, geared to supporting labour market transitions and offering security and new opportunities, but also fair treatment. Increasing labour flexibilization will thus require more comprehensive benefit packages.