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Aliki Mouriki

It is no coincidence that , with the exception of Germany, those EU-15 countries that score
low in the expectation of finding a job soon are also countries spending little on active labour mar-
ket measures: Portugal spends 0.70% of its GDP, Italy spends 0.59%, France 0.97%, and Greece a
meager 0.17%. By contrast, Denmark devotes 1.83% of its GDP on active labour market policies
(the highest amongst the EU and the OECD countries), the Netherlands 1.44% and Sweden 1.24%.
It should be noted that high spending on active measures goes hand in hand with high spending in
passive measures as well (unemployment benefits), indicating a dynamic and integrated approach to
labour market problems (see Table 3).

Table 3: Public expenditure on labour market policies as a % of GDP, 2004

Country           Active measures Passive measures             Total

* figures for Greece do not include Public Employment Services and administration costs

Source: OECD Employment Outlook 2006, Statistical Annex

So, moving away from the concept of job security towards the concept of employment (or labour
market) security involves above all a commitment by governments to spend more on active labour
markets and unemployment insurance, rather than focus on how to ease hiring and firing procedures,
or facilitate the growth of precarious (and insecure) work. This is the most effective way to address
the challenges of labour market segmentation and marginalization, but also of poor economic per-
formance.

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