The combined effects of globalisation, deregulation and automation have changed the employment relationships and patterns on which our social protection systems are built. In developed countries, flexible forms of employment or self-employment often combine with low wages and other employment conditions to generate cumulative disadvantages for workers in the labour market. Similar processes have affected low- and middle-income countries, where formal employment has become highly flexibilised, generating a new pattern of labour market segmentation between good and poor-quality employment, regardless of whether this employment would traditionally be considered to be formal or informal.
These changes in the labour market affect our social protection systems and welfare state structures and pose a number of challenges: on the one hand, precarious jobs and contracts may interrupt and/or reduce both worker and employer contributions to social security and taxation systems, while they also simultaneously generate an increased need for income support during periods of unemployment or at retirement age, as well as increased need for support with other potential benefits, including those extended to children or other dependents. Do these developments undermine established social contracts? Are governments indirectly subsidising poor-quality employment through income support systems and other welfare state payments? Do these mechanisms contribute to entrenching inequalities?
This symposium brings together scholars from across the LSE to explore policy responses and solutions to these problems, their potential trade-offs in different development contexts, and what can be learnt from common or divergent factors.
Registration is now open here.
Symposium Agenda
Thursday 11 May 2023
MAR 2.10 (LSE Marshall Building)
9:50am - 6pm (BST)
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9.50am
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Welcome and opening remarks
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10.00am - 11.10am
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Session 1
Kirsten Sehnbruch (International Inequalities Institute, LSE), James Foster (International Inequalities Institute) and Mauricio Apablaza (International Inequalities Institute)
Beyond Dashboards: Measuring Labour Market Performance
Johannes Spinnewijn (Department of Economics)
The Value and Limits of Unemployment Insurance
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11.10am – 11.30am
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Coffee break
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11.30am – 12.40pm
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Session 2
Steve Machin (Centre for Economic Performance)
Wage Controversies
Naila Kabeer (Department of International Development/Gender Studies)
Social protection, labour markets and ‘structural holes’: beyond safety nets
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12.40pm – 1.45pm
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Lunch
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1.45pm – 3.30pm
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Session 3
Hugh Collins (LSE Law School)
Job Security in Segmented Labour Markets
Anna Valero (Centre for Economic Performance and Programme on Innovation and Diffusion)
Net Zero and the Labour Market: Evidence from the UK
Timo Fleckenstein (Department of Social Policy)
Labour Market Dualisation and Social Potection in South Korea
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3.30pm – 3:50pm
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Coffee break
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3.50pm – 5.00pm
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Session 4
Neil Lee (Department of Geography)
Spatial Inequality in the Labour market
Oriana Bandiera (STICERD)
Labour Market Policies and the Quest for Gender Equity
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5:00pm - 5.05pm
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Closing Remarks
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5:00pm - 6:00pm
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Drinks Reception
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Beveridge 2.0: Redefining the Social Contract is a programme hosted by the LSE School of Public Policy that aims to bring the LSE community together with the intent of exploring important policy questions, fostering dialogue across disciplines and identifying avenues for collaborative cross-disciplinary research.
The School of Public Policy is an international community where ideas and practice meet. Our approach creates professionals with the ability to analyse, understand and resolve the challenges of contemporary governance.
The International Inequalities Institute at LSE brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead cutting-edge research focused on understanding why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges