Definition

Active inclusion means enabling every citizen, notably the most disadvantaged, to fully participate in society, including having a job.

In practical terms, that means:

• adequate income support together with help to get a job. This could be by linking out-of-work and in-work benefits, and by helping people to access the benefits they are entitled to
• inclusive labour markets – making it easier for people to join the work force, tackling in-work poverty, avoiding poverty traps and disincentives to work
• access to quality services helping people participate actively in society, including getting back to work.

Challenges

Active inclusion is intended to tackle various challenges:

• Poverty
• Social exclusion
• In-work poverty
• Labour market segmentation
• Long-term unemployment
• Gender inequalities

Policy response

The Social Investment Package (SIP) stresses the importance of activating and enabling services:

• Job training and search assistance
• Access to basic bank accounts
• Energy inclusion
• Adequate income support (based on reference budgets where appropriate)

The Social Investment Package underlines the importance of reducing administrative burdens and simplifying the benefit systems through mechanisms such as "one-stop shops".

Individual contracts between service providers and participants, setting out their rights and obligations, empower the individual and contribute to developing human capital.

Background

• 2008 Recommendation on the active inclusion of people excluded from the labour market
• The European Social Fund provides support for implementing active inclusion strategies to tackle poverty and social exclusion at national level.