Disability and labour market integration

Despite the fact that job opportunities for young people with disabilities increased in the Netherlands, their income position has deteriorated and most of the work available to them is on a temporary basis. Moreover, with typical quota systems put in place in European countries for minimum employment of people with disabilities (PWD) being between 2% and 7%, the Netherlands falls below these brackets with a quota of 1.93% in the public sector. Whilst at policy level progress is being made, the participation of people with disabilities remains a great challenge, especially in light of the economic and unemployment uncertainty caused by COVID-19.

Thus, the recently published Eurofound report “Disability and labour market integration: Policy trends and support in EU Member States” (2021) tackles the issue of policy developments across all EU Member States which aim to ensure inclusion of PWD in the open labour market. Eurofound is the EU agency that is focused on working and living conditions.

The study, coming at a time of crucial changes, including the lapse of the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, the launch of the new strategy and the progression of the situation relating to COVID-19, highlights key obstacles in the open labour market for PWD. Authors describe actions of the EU MS, key policy developments and provide examples of measures which work and ones which do not in the labour market inclusion of PWD. Finally, conclusions and policy pointers are outlined, including measures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Panteia, being the Dutchc Eurofound Correspondent, contributed to the collection of 154 policy measures examples, providing insights on the Dutch perspective in the matter. The report can be found at the Eurofound website.