Measures to improve the Swedish unemployment insurance and the impact of temporary lower wages in the Serbian education sector

Two more Flash Reports prepared by ESPN independent experts on recent social policy developments in Europe are now available.

• In Sweden, 91% of the people who have lost their full-time jobs hit the income ceiling of the unemployment insurance and therefore receive less than the stipulated 80% of their previous earnings. The Government is now taking steps to raise both the income ceiling and the minimum benefit level with the objective of reducing the risk for the unemployed to fall into poverty.
• A new law to temporarily reduce wages of public employees, applicable from November 2014, brought on the longest ever strike in the education sector in Serbia. As a result, classes were shortened by 15 minutes in around a quarter of elementary and secondary schools. Although the strike ended on 24 April 2015, negotiations with the Government failed. These recent developments have led to a lowering of the education quality and to a delay in reforms which were previously proposed.

More detailed information on these initiatives in the Flash Reports.