Care, labour and reproduction

Work and ecology are high on the agendas of the EU and its member states. The European Treaties require governments to integrate environmental, economic and social policies for Sustainable Development. In this context, environmental and employment policies are linked through the idea of social efficiency. 

Theme

It is less the size of the present gross domestic product than the distribution of jobs on (relative) few employed person, which causes high levels of unemployment, and thus distributional problems. Unemployment affects the well-being of humans negatively and causes also a dismantling of human capital (loss of knowldedge) and social capital (the personal networks necessary for managing, relations, social co-operation in a society), thus raising social inefficiency. For an increase of the total social and economic efficiency (= competitiveness) it is necessary to generate more human and social capital. However, the genaration of these assets requires time to form and maintain relationships, to spend time with the family and children, ect. 

Policy relevance

A meaningful possibility to increase the individual well-being in (European) society and to augment the competitiveness of the economy at the same time, is to re-distribute work, whereby both the work for money and unpaid work must be considered. This means to distribute less employment (Erwerbsarbeit) on more capita as well as to provide more time to (more than) full time employees for relations, self implementation, education and care, social commitment. 

Less employment causes less market production and consumption thus reduced resource consumption, with which the circle closes again. For the society as a whole this means: 

• less environmental consumption,
• more “well-being”
• to create more jobs in a
• more competitive Europe.

Our contribution

In addition to financial and produced capital the natural, human and social capital become more important for economic and societal development. SERI investigates these relationships theoretically as well as empirically and develops policy suggestions for a more effective policy integration.