The Unemployment Iceberg: What is Beneath,Behind,and Ahead?

Abstract

Unemployment is a complex issue, affected by many different factors, institutions, and policies. It can be viewed as the ultimate of four levels of institutional settings, each with its own options and processes: the potential working population; family/household patterns affecting labor force participation; the employment system, its working time regimens, and the allocation of paid and unpaid work; and finally, economic exclusion, by unemployment, poverty, or both. The author examines this complexity and describes the experiences of some OECD countries over the last few decades, then outlines some policy options for addressing the problem of unemployment. The article concludes with a discussion of some crucial tests confronting social democracy and the trade union movement.