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THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
38
other programmes conceived to help European
young people succeed in today’s highly chal-
lenging labour market. All of these policy initia-
tives must be sustained, particularly in those
countries hit hardest by the crisis, if significant
progress is to be made going forward. In addi-
tion to their initial purpose, these programmes
provide a golden opportunity to consolidate a
European-level policy that not only comple-
ments national efforts severely hindered by
budget cutbacks but also serves as a model for
future EU internal policymaking.
This report also reveals the failure of nation-
al governments throughout Europe to maintain
appropriate levels of funding for active labour
market policies following the financial crisis.
According to the statistics in contains, the aver-
age annual relief and support expenditure per
jobless person in Europe actually declined by
between 5 % and 10 % between 2010 and
2013 despite a sharp rise in unemployment dur-
ing this period.
The second relevant document issued in
2016 was the Social Protection Committee’s an-
nual report
5
,
a study it prepares every twelve
months in fulfilment of its mandate – estab-
lished in article 160 of The Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) – to
monitor the social situation in the European
Union and the development of social protection
policies in member states.
Although the latest Social Protection
Performance Monitor (SPPM) points to the con-
tinued favourable evolution of the European
labour market, according to the most recent
data available, the risk of poverty and social
5
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whMjAxMjAyMTVwcmV2aWV3
exclusion in the European Union continues to
be unacceptably high and much remains to be
accomplished if 2020 social inclusion targets are
to be met.
This report contains the following observa-
tions regarding what the Social Protection
Committee has identified as trends to watch:
– Figures for relative poverty and the depth of
poverty indicate a persistent deterioration of
social wellbeing in the EU. The percentage of
EU citizens residing in quasi-jobless house-
holds is on the increase as are risk-of-poverty
rates for such households. Children account
for one fifth of the individuals currently at
risk of poverty or social exclusion in the
Union. However, a reported rise in house-
hold incomes in many member states indi-
cates that severe material deprivation rates
and the relative burden of housing costs are
now both falling in these countries.
– Long-term unemployment and the scarcity
of job opportunities for young people be-
tween the ages of 15 and 24 continue to be
major challenges. NEET and unemployment
rates have only fallen slightly.
– The labour market participation rate for old-
er workers as well as income and living con-
ditions of the elderly relative to the rest of
the population has continued to improve.
– There continues to be a wide dispersion and
divergence in income inequality within the
EU and the income gap that has widened
dramatically in nearly half of them since
2008 has yet to reach a point of inflexion.
– Underperforming member states must do
more to improve the effectiveness of bene-
fits they provide to working-age citizens, en-
hance the social services they offer and make
their labour markets more inclusive. This will
best be accomplished by placing greater em-
phasis on coverage and the adequacy of