Future of social policy
Doc. 7652
23 September 1996
OPINION[1]
Rapporteur: Mr ELO, Finland, Socialist Group
1. At the last part-session in June I presented to this Assembly a report on "the situation of young people in Europe: marginalised youth". That report was meant to be a first contribution from the Committee on Culture and Education to this wider debate on social policy.
2. It pointed out that society was changing fast and the younger generation was increasingly vulnerable to such changes. The role of the traditional family and other values such as religion and solidarity were being called into question. This situation existed both in western and in eastern Europe.
3. During our debate Sir Keith Speed drew attention to the fact that young people had responsibilities as well as rights. I would agree. Peter Hardy went on to quote a letter he had received from a woman in his constituency. It read: "The light of hope has gone from my son's eyes. He sees no prospect of jobs, no challenge and no opportunity. He has no aspiration". I find that this summarises very well the situation of many young people throughout Europe. As a consequence of such a situation some of these young people get involved in drug addiction and delinquency.
4. This is unacceptable. But the problem is not simply solved by declaring that the first priority of social policy should be to ensure that everybody has a job or by insisting on the responsibility of individuals to find jobs. Despite all efforts unemployment has continued to increase for the last 20 years. It should be noted however that some countries have fared better than others in tackling unemployment. Their examples should, of course, be followed.
5. Let us face reality: most measures that used to be taken to foster employment some decades ago do not achieve the same results in our post-industrial society and it would be unrealistic to pretend the contrary. A change in mentalities is needed to find other ways of fulfilling the double role that traditional employment plays in integrating people in society on one hand and in providing them with financial independence on the other.
6. Therefore the main priority for any social policy should be the combatting of the adverse consequences of unemployment rather than the creation of jobs. This is certainly an aim we should continue to pursue but it is not the competence of social policy alone.
7. It is not unemployment but society which "destroys" some of those who are jobless, by excluding them and making them feel redundant and useless, while accepting some others who also have no jobs such as students, people engaged in voluntary work, housewives (to a certain extent) or retired people, for instance.
8. The real problem seems to be social cohesion and not employment in itself. Social policies should aim at providing social integration for all its members by giving them the possibility of proving themselves useful. It should also, of course, pay a fair price in return. Such integration could not be achieved overnight but there are many possibilities that could be explored. The preliminary draft recommendation presented by the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee refers to some of these. Our earlier debate stressed the importance of values, of family and of inter-generation solidarity.
9. Most people would agree on the need for a new social contract. However the aim of such a contract should not only be a higher level of employment (this is far from new) but also a higher level of social integration. Employment plays an important role as a factor for integration but it seems dangerous to "reaffirm" that this role is "irreplaceable". Today it is more than clear that full-employment in its traditional meaning is no longer possible. Any new social contract should therefore aim at integrating in society those who may still remain unemployed.
10. New sources of employment, such as those mentioned in paragraph 10 of the preliminary draft recommendation, should indeed be developed but it is unclear why such new jobs should not compete with private activities. On the other hand, if such new jobs really "meet needs", they will certainly cost society much less than unemployment. In this respect it should be made clear that much of the present violence, insecurity and drug related problems are part of the social cost of unemployment and should be counted as such.
11. It is essential to re-think the traditional education and vocational training processes. These should aim at providing individuals with the means to select which roles they could better play in society and to prepare them for such roles. Everybody has an active role to play in society and the present situation where some have jobs and others are inactive should not continue to be tolerated. It seems probable that the role played by any given individual in society will change more often in the course of his/her life than it is the case today. Therefore one of the requirements of future education and training should be flexibility.
12. Young people should be provided with a more effective transition from education to working life, for example by allowing for a period comprising both activities. In most European countries this is not the case: education is considered an end in itself and is kept separate from work. Germany is a good example of a country where vocational training and working life go hand in hand and it should be noted that in Germany the unemployment rate for young people is lower than the average whereas in almost all other European countries youth unemployment is much higher than the average.
13. As I have mentioned in our committee's contribution to the enlarged debate of the Assembly on the activities of the OECD, youth unemployment could be a priority area for cooperation between the two organisations.
Reporting committee: Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee (Doc. 7634).
Reference to committee: Directive No. 523 (1996).
Approved by the Committee on Culture and Education on 5 September 1996.
Secretaries to the committee: MM. Grayson and Ary.
[1]. by the committee on Culture and Education