October 5, 2009

Lisbon post 2010: employment rate goals

The employment rate in de European Union has increased considerably between 2000 and 2008, but the Lisbon target of 70% will not be met in 2010.

Employment has increased from 62% in 2000 to 66% in 2008, mainly due to women and elderly workers entering the labour market or extending their stay.

This paper presents a proposal to develop country-specific employment goals for the time period 2010 to 2020. These goals have to be realistic and ambitious.

We compare age and gender specific participation rates in the various EU Member States and the outcomes are used to sketch the options for higher employment rates in the next decade.

Subsequently, we develop three scenarios with varying employment rate goals for the EU as a whole and for each Member State separately.