Each year the Social Protection Committee (SPC) draws up a report on the state of social protection in the Member States.
This annual review of the Social Protection Performance Monitor (SPPM) and of developments in social protection policy produces a meaningful report, with a specific profile for each country in the annex.
The report consists of an overview with tables, figures and the main social challenges for both the EU and each country. These tables allow a wealth of information to be obtained, allowing different approaches in the countries to be compared.
The annual report highlights the following developments:
- poverty,
- risk of poverty,
- social exclusion,
- In-work poverty,
- unemployment,
- gross disposable household income,
- severe material deprivation,
- the proportion of the population living in (quasi-)unemployed households,
- Income inequality,
- children at risk of poverty,
- Early school leavers,
- Income of older people,
- Effects of the COVID-19 outbreak,
- Measures relating to Covid-19, access to health care, etc.
The report provides a basis for the national social dialogue and for developing demands on policymakers.
In addition to all this necessary information, the report contains several key messages based on all the information gathered, which will be endorsed by the Council of the European Union on 12 October 2020.
One of these messages points out that, despite the measures taken to protect workers from the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, the unemployment rate in the EU is expected to rise from 6.7% in 2019 to 9% in 2020, before falling back to around 8% in 2021, with differences between sectors, countries and regions.
There is also a significant risk of widening economic and social disparities between and within Member States.
In line with this message, the report notes that as the employment situation worsens and the number of people unemployed or in precarious jobs grows, more people are in need of social protection.
Further policy reforms are needed to improve coverage while maintaining or improving the adequacy of social protection, including for the self-employed and people in atypical forms of employment. A further message deepens the measures to combat poverty and social exclusion of the most vulnerable and underlines that these measures are of the utmost importance.
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