Unemployment across the EU has increased sharply since the onset of the economic crisis, and despite some reduction in many countries since mid-2013, it remains far above the level in 2008 before the crisis began.

© Shutterstock.com / Liudmyla Marykon

This raises concerns about the extent of support of the unemployed in different Members States and the capacity of social welfare systems to adapt the challenge of providing sufficient protection in an era of tight constraints on public expenditure.

This seminar examined the issue of the coverage of unemployment benefits and the changes which have been made to this over the course of the crisis, by reviewing and considering

• the different approaches and practices in this regard across the EU,
• the effect of labour market developments,
• the way that different groups are affected and those that have lost out, or gained, in the different countries from the changes which have occurred in the EU,
• measurement issues involved in estimating unemployment benefit coverage rates and the data available to do this.