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Annual Integration Monitor

Researchers

McGinnity,Frances / O'Connell,Philip J / Quinn,Emma

How are immigrants integrating into Irish society? The ESRI has been commissioned by the Integration Centre of Ireland to develop an integration monitor to measure the integration of immigrants in Ireland, and publish an annual monitoring report on integration. The report will consist of an overview of the main trends in migration and chapters covering integration policy and national indicators in the domains of employment, education, social inclusion and active citizenship. These indicators will allow us to assess economic, political and social equality of immigrants in Ireland. The report will also identify data gaps in each integration domain, and reflect on the implications of the findings for integration policy. The project runs from Spring 2010 to December 2013.

Determinants and Consequences of Skill Mismatch and Policy Implications

Researchers

McGuinness,Seamus / O'Connell,Philip J / Sloane, Peter (University of Swansea) / O’Leary, Nigel (University of Swansea) / Mavromaras, Kostas (University of Melbourne)

This research is being undertaken for the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) on the determinants and consequences of skill mismatch and policy implications. The research programme will last for four years and will involve a collaboration between researchers at the ESRI, Swansea University and The University of Melbourne. In the initial phase of the study the researchers will investigate:

1. A taxonomy of mismatch to include over and undereducation, over and underskilling, labour shortages and skills obsolescence.
2. What are the links between skill mismatch experienced at the level of the individual, the level of the firm and the economy?
3. The most appropriate approach to assessing the impacts of skill mismatch.
4. The extent to which job mismatch represents a serious concern for policy makers.

Three subsequent studies will be commissioned based on the findings and recommendations of this initial research.

EQUALSOC - Economic Change, Quality of Life and Social Cohesion - Network of Excellence

Researchers

Whelan, Christopher T / Maitre,Bertrand / O'Connell,Philip J / McGinnity,Frances / Smyth,Emer / Watson,Dorothy / Russell,Helen / Darmody,Merike / Layte,Richard / McCoy,Selina / Byrne,Delma / Calvert,Emma

The EQUALSOC EU Network of Excellence under the Sixth Framework commenced on 1 September 2005 under a five-year grant for integration from the European Commission. The network has thirteen member institutions, including the ESRI, in ten countries. The network is coordinated by Professor Robert Erikson of the Swedish Institute for Social Research. Chris Whelan of is as Chair of the Governing Council and ESRI Coordinator.

The objective is to construct a network of excellence that will mobilise and develop research expertise interdisciplinary expertise across Europe on the implications of economic change for social cohesion and the quality of life. The network will mobilize the expertise of the majority of the leading European researchers in the field, bringing together specialists with complementary knowledge to examine trends in, and the determinants of, social cohesion in the European societies. Drawing upon hitherto distinct research networks, it will create a new inter-disciplinary arena that will facilitate the transfer of knowledge between leading researchers, heighten the international visibility of European research and stimulate new lines of research to strengthen the evidence base available to policy makers.

The network is rooted in and develops the experience of the successful CHANGEQUAL EU Network project. The network will constitute a major resource centre both for the wider research community and for policy makers. Members of the network have a strong commitment to active dissemination of the results of research, as is reflected in their past contributions to both national and EU policy discussions. Dissemination will be a core activity of the network, taking advantage of the increasingly sophisticated nature of website provision to target specific audiences and making provision for workshops for EU policy makers.

EQUALSOC Research Network: The Training Gap in Life-long Learning

Researchers

O'Connell,Philip J / Byrne,Delma / McCoy,Selina

Most commentators agree that participation in continuing education and training, after entry to the labour market, is heavily stratified. Those with more initial education participate more in continuing education and training, the young participate more than the old. The aim of this working group is to explore the training gap between the low and high skilled, and the young and the old, across countries at macro, meso and micro levels:

• At the macro level the focus is on the impact of the structure of national educational systems and policies and on labour market institutions on opportunities for lifelong learning.
• At the meso level the focus is on the impact of organisational characteristics of enterprises and differences between product sectors on training decisions
• At the micro individual level, the focus is on individual characteristics that influence participation in adult learning. In this context it would be useful to shed some light on the extent of gender differences in participation.

The working group, is co-ordinated by Philip and draws on research activities of 15 researchers working in 6 research institutes in Europe. See http://www.equalsoc.org/21

European Migration Network

Researchers

Quinn, Emma / Joyce,Corona / O'Connell,Philip J

The work of the European Migration Network (EMN) is to make available a wide range of timely, objective and comparable information on international migration for policy makers, researchers, NGOs and other practitioners, and the public across all EU member States. The aim is to deepen our understanding of the phenomenon of migration and facilitate analysis and research that will contribute to more informed planning, policies and actions in this area, and lead to more meaningful co-operation within the EU.

In May 2008 the European Migration Network was established with a permanent legal base (Council Decision 2008/381/EC). A network of operational units termed National Contact Points has been formally established, one in each EU member State. The ESRI has been designated as the official Irish Contact Point since 2003.

The initiative is jointly funded by the EU Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security and the Irish Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. 

More information on the European Migration Network.

Evaluating the Impacts of the National Employment Action Plan (NEAP) on the Likelihood of Exiting the Live Register

Researchers

McGuinness,Seamus / O'Connell,Philip J / Kelly,Elish / Walsh,John R

The National Employment Action Plan (NEAP) is a long-term unemployment preventative strategy that was established in 1998 under which the Department of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA) refers unemployed individuals to FAS, Ireland’s national training and employment authority. In this study we propose to examine and assess the impact of the NEAP and its components on exit rates from the Live Register over an 18-month period. The proposed evaluation will include the following elements:

1. Benchmark the overall net effectiveness of the NEAP;
2. Measure the differential effectiveness of the NEAP components, specifically:
2a. Referral,
2b. Interview,
2c. Training/Education/Employment interventions;
3. Assess the differential net effectiveness of specific education, training and employment schemes delivered under the NEAP.

The evaluation will involve the integrated use of data from a number of sources including the Live Register, a profiling questionnaire issued to all individuals registering for unemployment assistance over a 13 week period and FAS events files, which chronicles each individuals contact with the agency. The work will build on earlier research on unemployment profiling and potentially facilitate the movement towards a more integrated and informed range of services for those most at risk of falling into long-term unemployment.

National Pilot Profiling/Case Management of the Unemployed

Researchers

O'Connell,Philip J / McGuinness,Seamus / Kelly,Elish

From September 2006, and for the following 2 months, all new claimants on the Live Register are to be issued with a questionnaire developed by ESRI in conjunction with the Dept of Social and Family Affairs, to collect a range of variables that are expected to influence subsequent employment prospects. This will result in a national sample of approximately 40,000 unemployed claimants whose social welfare and labour market outcomes will be tracked over the next 18 months.

The data collection will form the basis for a pilot national profiling system to identify unemployed clients most likely to experience employment difficulties and to enter long-term unemployment. Such a profiling system can be used to provide a rigorous basis for targeting active labour market policies to those most in need of such interventions and thus to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of activation measures in favour of the unemployed.

NCPP Workplace Study 2008

Researchers

O'Connell,Philip J / Watson,Dorothy / Russell,Helen

The ESRI, in partnership with Amárach Research, will carry out the Workplace Study 2008 on behalf of the National Centre for Partnership and Performance (NCPP). This project involves an analysis of the employment practices and workplace climate in Irish private and public sector workplaces and the extent of change since 2003 (when a similar study was carried out by the ESRI). In addition to the broad range of issues covered in the 2003 study (including workplace partnership and participation, communication, flexibility, job satisfaction, job loyalty), the 2008 study will have an increased emphasis on innovation and gather additional information on emerging issues such as work-family balance, workplace diversity and skills match. As this study is being repeated in a very different global economic context to that pertaining in 2003, the results will be crucial in informing policies to ensure that Irish workplaces are equipped to face these challenges.

The study involves a large scale survey of employees (N=5,000) and a survey of private sector firms (N=1,500) and public sector organisations (N=400). The survey will be piloted in November-December 2008, with the main fieldwork taking place in early 2009. The reports on the study will be completed in the second half of 2009.

Occupational Employment Forecasts 2015

Researchers

O'Connell,Philip J / Lunn,Pete

The ESRI is engaged in a collaborative project with the training and employment authority, FÁS, to produce forecasts for the structure of the Irish labour market in 2015. The forecasts will provide a detailed breakdown by occupation and gender of the expected shape of the Irish labour force in seven year’s time. The work is based on the macroeconomic forecasts of sectoral employment produced by the ESRI’s Medium-Term Review 2008-2015, which are combined with medium-term occupational trends within each sector. The subsequent report will be the 13th in an ongoing series of similar forecasts dating back to 1991. In line with the ESRI’s research strategy, this project aims to facilitate knowledge transfer from the ESRI to FÁS, which is undertaking a greater proportion of the research effort compared with the previous occupational forecasts. The project is being overseen by a steering group consisting of representatives from the ESRI and FÁS, as well as other policymakers.

The Gender Pay Gap: Examining the latest evidence on gender pay differentials in Ireland

Researchers

Callan,Tim / McGuinness,Seamus / Kelly,Elish / O'Connell,Philip J

Recent data suggest that women earn about 15% less than men on an hourly basis. To what extent is this due to differences in the age and experience profiles of male and female employees? And what role is played by the concentration of women and men into particular occupations and industries? An understanding of these issues is central in framing appropriate policies directed at labour market equality. These issues will be explored in this project commissioned by the Equality Authority. The project is part of the Equality Authority/ESRI Programme of Research on Equality and Discrimination.