Governmental Measures Proinotinq Part Time Work for Young Persons:

discussion papers

IIMV/Arbeitsmarktpolitik - nM/Labour Market Policy Wissenschaftszentru_jn Berlin

• tIM/LNP 84 - 18

Governmental Measures Proinotinq Part Time Work for Young Persons:

case studies from BeIgitin, France, Great Britain, FR Germany and Swederv

September 1984

The author is a member of the Policy Information Group at the International Institute of Management/Labour Market Policy of the. Wissenschaftszentn Rerun. This study was financed under a research contract of the European Commission.

The assistance-Of Anika Ejern in the preparation of the Swedish case study is gratefully acknowledged, so too are. useful

coimuents, on an. earlier version by Hans Maier.. All views ex- pressed here are, however, those of the author alone.

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CONTENTS

page INTRODUCTION

2. SIMPLE MEASURES ...2 2.1 Part time public sector

jobcreation in Germany ...2 2.2 "Youth Pools"-in Sweden ...4 3.. MEASURES WITH A. SCHOOLING

OR TRAINING COMPONENT . 9

3.-1 Part time "Traineeships" in Belgium ...10 3.2 "Workin and Leaning in Germany ...15 4. . INDIRECT MEASURES _.. . ... ...- 19 4.1 The British "Job Splitting- Scheme't ... 19

4.2 The British "Part Time Job Release System"

t.3 The French "Solidarity Contracts

for Progressive Retirement" ....-..-. 2-2

5-. CONCLUSIONS ^- _5*- . 25

Appendix: Overview-of Programmes ₃₁

swumary

This study follows up an earlier piece of

research conducted for the European Commission

which looked at initiatives pro- moting- part time

workin. for Oun •ersons in

traditionam- ploying organizations.

ere the pro.rammes 0--various national

labour - market authorities, are consi.ered.

_Attempts

have been made to organize lob creation

schemes on part'time basis, on the one hand

to allow limited resources €6-6rTThributed

more

widely,

on the other

to

emphasiz& more firmly

the temporary nature of such work

and

to ?T1Eia young

persons' reservatian.

wages. In addition, part time - working has bihEi5ined

viitit

efforts to provide part time Schooling,

both of an occupation- ally specific and a more general natures Whilst the availabili- ty of corresponding part time educational structures is a pre- condition of such pOrgranes" success., they can provide a. bet- ter- means of integrating young persons into working life and of countering the problem of "school tiredness". Measures seek- ing to encourage "job splitting", via the offer of a subsidy to employers, are not very effective, despite the fact that it is often. young persons who take on part time jobs which result.

Combining gradual retirement for older workers with a gradual introduction to working- life for young persons, although attrac- tive in theory, has proved difficult to realize in practice.

ZuEammsnfassunq

Die vorliegende Studie knilpft an sine frtlhere Cntersuchung für did- Euxopttschs Xommission tibet die von einzelnen Unternehuten un& 5ffent21c1en. Arbeitgebert angebotenen. Megaclikeiten der tefl- zeitarbeit Jugendlicher an. Diesmal stehen the Programme der

Arbeitgmaxktbelidrdem verschiedener tSnder in Zentrun.. Die Be- iSThungen richten sich daraufr Arbeitsbeschaffunqsprogranme auf Teilzeithasis zu schaffen, tin the begrenzten. Mittel wetter- zu streuen,, the zeitliche Befristung' derartiger Ersatzbescha.ftjguxt- get,. starker zu betonen und auch die Eixiicommenserwartungen der Jugendlichen zu senken. Auflerdem. wurde Teilzeitarbejt mit alige- meinen oder berufljchen Ausbildungamasnajimen kombiniert. Die Existenz ether auf ems Teilzeitausbildw,.g ausgerichteteij Infra- struktur in Ausbildungssektor steflte sich dabei als sine wesent- liche Voraussetzung fUr den Erfolg soldier Programme heraus, the der Schui.mtidigkeit der Jugendlichen entgegenkommen, auth besser in aflgemeinen zu ether Integration ins Erw'erbsleben beitragen.

Maflnahmen zur Fdrderunq von Teilzeitarbejt mit Rilfe von Subven- tionen an die Unternebmen fUr the Aufteilung von Arbeitsplatzen haben aid]. ala wenig effektiv- erwiesen, trotz der Tatsache, dai3 die so geschaffenen Teilzeitarbeitaplatze haufig von Jugendflchen besetzt werden. Die VerknUpfunç eines gleitenden tlbergangs in den Ruhestand inSt einem alimablichen Eintritt von Jugendlichen ins Erwerbaleberi hat sich - obwohl theoretisch tiberzeugend - in der Praxis ala schwer realisierbar erwiesen.

1.

INTRODUCTION

This stu(Iy

forms.,

orms the

secon&óf two

which are

_concerned

to examine recent experiences

_with,

and thus the potential for,

strategies for workaharing- for

younprson-s.

In the first

tudy

we tried tol explain some of-.- the reasoning hind the advocacy of such a. strategy and to establish sqme of the áiteria by which its desirability or efficacy might be

measéa.Iwa them went' on. to- IoSc;iñ some detail

ãta;.;nuer of

nlpàrinenta that had, been

conducted botIx within the pr4yate sector and. in pthflt authorities whereby,.

either as a result of collective bargaining- or management initiative,

_attempts hacl been majier to increas the in rdence of part time work or youxq persons

and:

thus to ishare

available enipiotment aman3st

a greater nuxter

Here we

seek to

-s's

element this. stud' by

turning our attention from efforts

involvinq traditional

^{- s}

lo

^•s

or - anizations to

... .

these ^fnrmln,g-

part

ot

speaal.

empoyment p;ogrammes authorized

and organized and administered by the labour

market authorz.ties..

Such. programmes,

although not always important in. terms of scope,. have in the last year or p

been,, developed.

in a considerthj.e. number of countries, and., we look at,, examples

- front äe]4junx,. France,,. the. Federal Republic of Gerznany Great Britatn and. Sweden... Rather, however, than. structuring our

presentation, on a country- by country,

batis

as the nature of the experiments described

1

in, the first study , suggested J, 1yg.,.fbd in this instance that three particular txE

^of

intervention

?uld

SS ^{These are}

^4fl

simple iheasues involving

only, a part

time

working

component; secondly measures Where

_{I part}

time workig

is combined with

some sort of

part time education

or, training; and.,

thirdly measures that', although not baying, the

1) B. Case,. Wadoharing ences

_{in Great}

Britain, the Thderal. Bepub]zic of Cennany and the Netheriands. Report of the Policy

Thfnnn'i4-ir

Group of the IrU4p fc, the Nanpa#er

Directorate. for the European

fl-nm

qsicn, Wissensthaftjzentri Berlin,

1984 (discusSion.

^parr

irç'iiw 84-13a).

promotion of part time workinforypug persons as their direct. objative,. could be considered, as likely- to contribute.

to this outcomes. We: shall approach then in this. or4er.

2.. , SZZ4PLE. MEASURES

To conmienca- this- Study, we shall exin1 tie governmental programmes _{- :} which.: iavc'lve. the simplest fern- of efforts, to- promote part time workinç :foroung perSons-; namely arttime.direkt'obcreaton schemes especially, targeted upon this category of the. unem-

ployed..

2..1 Part ti me:. public.,sector :job creation in Germany

The ,possibility to2: make. available positions: within the- Federal government's job- creat{nn:.prograe.. - (.ABM) on a part time basis, was first. opened- JJt the-. co.urseof _ft7? p1 the some 56.000 persons currently (4th. q4nrter, 1983) supportedi by the ABM scheme, nearly, 6-.000 or, over 10% are, working' otta part time basis The relative. importance 61 part timers amongst all ABK. participants c4±ffers-. considerably between the. various States (Lander),. with the largest number of part HTners, over one • arter of the total,. being employed, in projects

operatin. within,- Vest. Zerliq. In. this section we shall describe the p1-1in job. - cr-- oa'schemea to, be fOund there.

In Berlin part timers, make up-' over a quarte= of all ABM- employees.. The. overwhelming- majority of these, 88%, are categorized as. vounç"persons. -- i.e.- under. the age.' of 25.Mo of,the rernfnder are women,:, often with family- or- household respons-ih±ljtjes',. who. have been seeking only part time. work. ---,--- ...

Nearly ,60% of alL ABM positions for young- persons are part time,. an&.the large mflority of these-S part time jobs are occupied. by teenagers. - -i.e. persons under 20-years of age.

1) The 111±0 nTh.FJ1Tt presented in this sector is based jjfl an jj53vgg

=ducted. with offir'l _Is . of. the State arploynt . office of Berlin and cm. statistical. data made available by than.

The deciajoatomaJceM •Ositjonsavajlablebn a. -art time- rather

ins rather than

fun

time basis was not the product of a wisbsp spread avaLlable financial zesources over are number of persozis, the principle reason for the introduction of a major part time component in. the current British job crea,tsoxr

programme1 Rather it was influenced by tht special nature of -the group whom it is thereby sbuqht 'to help.. Since many of the, young participants have come directly from school, albeit with an 4intervening and. som&-lmos long spell of unemployment, they axe not accustomed _to receiving a

fun

time wage_and equally, because many are still livin;

ae

home, they h&ve re-1 _{Rt 4}vety, low' financial responsibilities More importantly, however,, the labour market authorities cons±der it undesirable that-,they, should,' through participation. ut an AEM measure,.

bernntn used, to or expect relativel± high earnings. Since ABM wags are paid. at colTortivety agree& rates the experience of, such earnjn.& is likel to _•usk • the "reservation. wage"t

persons,. an&might _Melt inhibit, their chances of fin44.ng suitable. wothonce their peridcL of subsidized. employment has. coma to an end. Furthermore,, to' the extent that he most desirable, outcome is not that they pasw into an unskilled job but rather into art apprenticeship, this is even more critical.

A'ppren,ticea in. darmany are not paid'a wage but a "training' SlThwanca",. whose level,. espediafly in the

first

yer,I, is very low-- indeed, consb.tuti.ng' at but a fraction of earnings

attainable from

tn.

H iE e±bymet '

As fas as the nature of the work perf&med by,,paxt time ABM employees is concerned, there is a heavy concentration of such Positions within the social services sector (particularly

hositals), these

11 making up over 90 of the tot7.. Almost all of the 'remainder involve work in the area ¹¹ of nature conservation and the maintenances of public parks and gardens. A breakdown

1) ^ThIs Programme is déscribedin a second. stu4y for the Mm war D1±ECtOratS of the European Camu.ssion undertaken by P. Auer,

1è1flt2 JLataon of the tong-tern Unemployed: an overview of public Programmes an eight countries. Discussion pr series of the International Institute of 143uanent, Wissenschaftszentrunj Berlin, IMAM 84-20a, p. 52.

between sexes is not available, although amongst all young

ARM employees' men: and: women:: are more or less equally represented whereas: withia the. total ABM programme within Berlin (full and part .t'iine) tha ratio. of men to 'women is nearly 7:3.. Most of the jobs ara_prov±de& bzthe: Berlin state qp_t,, to a lesser extent by- community organizations..,

The normal working'..weeic. of. the part' timers is 20 hours and daily work time is, 4 hours:.. One day per:weeic, during paid time, the young,persona 'a±te& a socialpedagoflcalwe1fare:" session,

participation, in, which .waa .previously voluntary but is now

compulsory. This facility': is organize& br the.' Education Promotion Service of thg , Federation _of. Trade: tinions Activities.:

involved ⁴ nrl'uda general coimselltngr cases of personal and

fm1 ly problems - not infrequent, given, the milieu. from: which many participants are. drawn:' advice upon, job search and. career opportunities,. practice in presentation and. interviews,, an

introduction, to: further training:' opportunities,. and trips to enterprises to. gaia acquaintance" with. the world of work and with potential ,,future employers..

Whilst participation 'th. an: ARM: programme can: last for up to one. year', only about 'half of all participants- remain that long.

It is to be.. note& that of those. that leave early:,, because ;they have found alternative employment,, most pass into full time, unskilled : work rather than, into, at apprenticeship...

2.2. "Youth Pools"J.n. 'Sweden,

Whilst part. time'ob. creation for. oung persons has a quite long.' tradition in Germany, in Sweden' it is a much more recent phenomen. However,., a number of tmilar reasons for its

utilization in Germany were advanced to j'ustify its intro—

'In, addition,, and unlike in Germany, the opportunity to spread available resources over a greater

number of positions appears to have also .been of some significance

Despite -the -

very-, low overall rate

:~

ployment is still,. in.. relative terms, a considerable probleiü.

in Sweden.. In 1.983 6.6%. of under 2.5 year. olds; (and 9.2% of

V - V

under 20 year olds) were registered as without work compared

,to, 3...5.% of the total labour force.. 1urthetore, in. the same way that the overafl rate of unemployment is' substantially nduced

y ^large sdale _(in 11983 these

ocdupIed. a furthec2.3% of the labobr foräe), so too the "real"

rate at youth unemploymeirE i&substantiall)tigher. In this restect .i:• ^the contribution. of -iob creabion schélnel has been. . -.-. ..-s'--

pia#rasgesS&

the mid al& off the 19jQs the share of ybungjersons 419144nhthae haS been almost conJAualy

inbteasi4qj so that by 1979 under 25 year olds consituti nearly 6fl t an participantE Whilst the pub c/ñon-pofit

see tbr- continued to be the principal prOvider of such, employment, -V

ob creation. projects: within private êntSrprisé became

increasingly important,, accounting' for 16% of alL time worked in 197 It was. young',persons in particular who were occup&ed in this. way.

The fact tha€ work in job cteatioñ projecS become one of the principle means of entry into working- Life for young persons did not pass; uncriM omt ObserverS pointed to the

poténtiafly' low s.tatua of such éinplo1hnéñt dOmpare& to "normal"

work. MOre imprtantlr however, others,"aitéd t13 at since such lobàweraEaid at collectively a ate:-*', their preponderance contributed to ... the maintenance 'of th_e too high wage levels., for young persons-which, it was thought, waS itself one of _the causes of ithe problem of youth unemployment. Zaastly,, it was suggested that. man ante .rises _were inaeastngl coming

11 to use b' creation projectsas an xtn& de and subsidized pjg,d

t .it

of "ti±..á .or - 'l i 'thiS .dthe reasons that in 1980 _{it was} decided, to exclude under la year olds fro- participation-Am:'] Ob

ro participation in job creation scheineä and to de -,iialop other^{_ ,}

programmes: of s chooting', training. or work: experience for them 1)

Whilst this had the effect. of lowering, somewhat the proportion of vounq persons: amongfl :patiqipants -in oh creation rognnes, their share stil t, some 58 in 19:83.. One reason

Or 1-hi t is that 16 and 17 year aids fan rather a small

proportion' of. the youth labour :force. The minimum, school leaving age is 16, but 85% of 16 year olds stay on at school, beyond this so that the. "nornrnt" school leaving age or age of entry into the labour market is: closer. to 18. Much' of the problems: of youth. unemployment is. concentrated. oxr tha age 'group of 18 and 19 year olds and. in 1981 such. persons alone, made up well over one: quarter (27.4.V) of all job creation: programme,

-participants.

The earlier criticisms at the suitability, of job creation. schemes- thus. reta4ne& their validity. -

In autumn 1983 the government announced a m49r:restruoturing of the totality of its- labour market programmes- to take better account of theprocess-o'f.uptnrrrthat'was then-becoming-apparent? ) One; element of, this restructur±nq at the intention' tflZ4pe

more wei.h.t •on -romotin; emrl'own in. the private sector- via, -wage

ector viawage subsidies, and less:, upon' more defensive strategies.

such. as .p.ubli sector job creation: programmes;within the area of iob creation rammes. itseLf, it was decided to exclude completely- tS t itioafl. yo a persons registered.. as. unemployed more

....---att. s--.

than three

^.. .. .-.. ... .

months wer%Jiven a.

arantee of a job .ii the. public-

sector.,or

a training.place.

Where this could. not be. offered, a. place in a so-called ttyouth pool". was to.. ha. ensure'd.. Those, unreasonably refusing such an offer. would have their rights, to unemployment compensation

...

withdrawn...Budgetary constraints meant that there could be no 1) sea P. ,Aner,, St±ategien der eitsbesthamg' in. 3' I.änder±i.

Discüssiai

^j*nr

series of 'the: International Institute of. Mangemsnt, Wissenscbaftszentrtn' Berlin, Ifl4/IdP 83-22, p. 23-24.

2) see. Inteniati on'1 Cirottlic ztr Arbeitsrnarlctpolitiic (des wissensdmfts-

zentrums No.. 14, Okt. 1983, p. 8+9..

exphiaion, indeed only contraction, of normal public sector emplâyment. Thus it was the second component of the offer, a place in. a "youth pool't, that wasof particular significance, an the more so because it also involved a. part time element.

Already im the snmmr 1982 ... .. .. _the establishment oi'outh pools"

had. beext proposed. as

part

of t packae of äbedial measures for yothq persons1 . The plan ±oresaw these aJdin g ,^pqanid by local äu.thorities. an& .... ^{offerin t} at least p 1rne activities for unemployed. ori.rre. arl

,.

^{. by young} persons in order to ket. then ift contact witithe world _{of works} The sort of tasks eüviságed to be undertaken included study visits to

poSatiar

émpboers, study groups 1zivestigating opportunities for star.-king, ^gftintl enter prf and, more traditjonnT work in. the area. of environmental.. conservation,, personal social serviâes etc.

,.

sucK as might be found in. more conventional _dob creat schezns

L ma

programme revealed. in. late 1983 and starting

operation at the be.

., •fl'

t984was a concretisatjon of this Young persons are expectexi tar attent the "ools for fourj4s per dày, and. are pa.t& the cbflecti-veIz agred 'rate most appropriate to the actual 46=k underálceit.. This will normally be in the order of SEr. 30 per, hour so. that eo.CL the

&iJy rate of "unemployment help 0^{% (}SXr, 100) to which most are entitled... Only those young persons jjjjights.to *unemployment

&

insuranc' • _a' n±s, the level of which is SUbS ian higher,

Will be offered full time positions. Tasks performed must _be deemed. as being "socially useful".. As with normal job creation programniQa, ae Participants remain _available for placement on the open labour market. The employer- ^Ireceives a. reimbursement of wage (an& any material) costs and whilst the "pools" are arimi nistered. by the relevant, level public authority, they are also intended to be partly self-managed.

1) see Ini6axnatiamie thronik, ' zur A'rbeitmmrktp61±Eik _{de 1}hS zentrmts. Berlin) It. 101 Oct. 1982, p. 5

Projects.

can

take '

,place-in- the private sector in arrangement with the public, authority who still remains, the 'lefli employer.

9!::

provision

is made for an

additional

education component Insofar as a grant of 21Cr 20 per participant per day is available,, either to be

paid

as

a. traininT

allowance Or to help. cover: costs. of~ providing, the teaching. The" education can be $e r vqg

ogocial._,dagpg,cal.

Given a potential 40,000 participants,, gross '.prograxre• costa were estimated as some 51Cr 5 mrd. per year, net costs, however, only

51Cr

300 in..

Only very 1inccmplete. ^I

fnrmtjon

is available at the moment with respect to.

programme outcomes,,

although an accompanying evaluation study is being'

undertaken,..

Most remarkable is the rapid growth of the programmer;,. In December

t9fl,

before 'the: tyou.th pools"

had become operative,

thera

were

just under

11,000 18-19 year olds in jiob4~ creation p±ogrammn, and. by.

March

1.584 still _some 7 00Q. Within the

same time the

number of participants in. 'youth- pools,"'

youth poolat had,, however,. reached- nearly 29,000. Thus, expressed Lin tens

of

full ^'I- Irne equinl

eats

^" the total volume sbcxeation

activities had

increased

_ye

substantially., Furthermore r,

the nnrqber of unemployed, young' persons' not catered for by- special

employment

programmes- ^{ha ti}

fallen dramatically, numbering

_at

end !ebruary

only

just over' 5.,000 compared to 17,000 a. year previously..

As was anticipated.,

it

is. the local

level authOrities which

are

the principal organizers of

the projects concerned. Some 70% of all participants

are in

such. -'"pobls", with the remainder being shared approximately equally bet'tieen the prOvincial,

and.

national. authorities.. Of those engaged. 'in activities under the responsibility of local authorities, some 4%

are

in projects

taking

place in private concerns') .

1) The infontation in this an

overview-

of.

nuierous newspaper (Dagens N.teter,. A±etet) articles

d the following paragrab is bat upon an

etc.. appearing in the course of the first four

nniths of 1984 put

together for the author by annika

Hjern.

Although ori mall some 4Ouhts wr :.resse& about whether local- authorities would be able to flnd sufficient meaninqful

o• .ottunities' to occupy "ygjp6ols", this does not appear to have been. a problek Indeà& if anything the, reverse hat teen the ciset & number at activies which it would h&ve beezr di±fscuit, impracticable or unjustifiable to orgáhizé _on a full. H basis could. be allocated: tc., the "youth ds". The part fimo dharacter of the younTpersona' positions- also iüade them inuca, more 'acceptant to regular.--, ttl flátazid tlié tTrádW 1E1Mn s -

in the local aritioritiei These had. bedoiné inc±eas.tnflysuspigious of traditional jofr reattSn Sorts &h a 'time of retrenchment were threatninq' t'o diEpladé thài±'own positions

iey are, howererp much re willihgr ho 500përatW#ith and help organize activiSes- for "youthpool""fcheiues- whibh, beSuseôf the more "margtnal't nature of the eiflploiiWiènt fr-lationShips- involved.r appear also to be more ^tadditional7. rn., sh,ort the

•ro amine is- widely

7 7, ,regarded as a.. major success It has generated.

considerable enthusiasn from all parts invoL& not the least the Young -person thamselves who as well as having a meaningfu occupatioa an& an Incdme: rc still enjoy, a considerable-amp unt, of:, free time..

3 • MEASURES WITH' A SCHOOLING OR TRAINING COWONENT

j-Thto eSloyment fat younq- persons has f±Eqie'ntiy argued for as not. only an end in itself. One reason for its being' 'seen as particularly suitable for this group is that it allows the., intro- duction to working life to be complemented by- training. Time which would otherwise be free istws put to a. more "productive" use.

Iere, then, we shall, concern ourselves with measures whereby part time working is combined with some form of part time learning or technical education.

- 10 -

3.1 Part ti ma "Traineeships" in BGIflum

An important component of the- labour. market strategy, the Belgian.

qovera,men"has been. pursuing: since. t977, the so-called plan for the.. absorb€ion at unemployment",, has been the scheme for

"youth. traineeships?'.. Its- objective was to smoàth the transition between school and. work.. According to its provisions, \ OrqaniZatio employing,, at least 50 persons- were: required to. hire to the

equivalent of an. additional: 2% of their labour farce young person (under. 30)- at yet.wtthou.t, work experience,These young: persons, must be retained for- ,6, months (renewable one H ma),. have to be paid. 901V of the- normal wage of the persons doiing-- equivalent work an &j . supposed., ose, as wall. as gtn4ng-wor3c experience,. to benefit from some, fonm of fobtrain-inç.. -, Until- siorincr t9182, A _small

subsidy- was paid, for each. trainee" so eny!j.

Theac*iiat efficiency of the scheme'has been: Open, to some questsoa1 . 1Tot all organizations could or did. fully comply

with the. requirements in. terms of numbers hired.. Even where they did., it was b no- mers- certain that the principle of 'tdditionality! was mat... Obligatory "traineeC were thought to displace: other categories of ' young- workers: or their near substitutes.. The amount of training- given: was often rather low.. ... ...

Finally,- only in. about one third, of cases were-the young persons offered. .ermanent contracts-

- n---a -.

contract with their employing organizations at the end.. of

I their "traineeshipet.

In: March. 1,98 amendments were made to, the "traineeshipscheme".

Alongside the dropping: of the subsidy- to. employers, .the number of trainees to be thired. was increased to 3% of the labour force.

One percentage-point of this. 3% is .to be made up .ofL"part.fljne

- — --

trainees, with two part timers counting-..as equivalent of one member of the organization's normal labour force.. "Part time traineeshipp.'L last for a- period, of one' year. (again renewable one time),, and' the young- gersons an paid. half of the rate paid - 1) see H.. Cossey/M. Laxrbert, Naattegeien. ter bestrijclirT van de werkloosheid,

in:: Kultuurle-ven, 10/82, pp. 898-904; and K. sens/a Vuchelen, Specifiek taerkstellingsbeleid var cia pr±vate sector, in: Vereiniglng voor

Ente' (eds.):, Wecleil,eid voor de JàrEt Tachtig, Gent, 1983.

to full time "tfljnee&'c Maces are to be given the priority to 1-6-- - year ols, and within their "free" time these young peison's shown benefit fran a part time'triining.

The introduction of apart. time traineeships" was probably the

most

difficult aspect of the amended,regtfla-eions that employers had. to cope with.. According to -the terms of the "traineeship"

system, if employers were. meeting- their 'statutory requirement, the. totaL nnmher of part time trainees should be equivalexth to the total number of full time trainees:: At the en& of 1982 however,., former- category made. up only "19% of the total - By the end pL 1983 the situatioa ha& improved. somewhat,. but part timers sI-I 1 t made up ontly 3-1,* of all trainees.. The principle explanation for ^thi a isthat the.:new systeilk

t;4M

1tZ4ffflstriactjwtsiat itt reality was not

yet

thee., First enterprises in. mOst sectors were. not. used to employing' persons

am--&

part t-tiiio basis.. The incidence of part Mm."- employment in Belgiwrr is rather low compared to the, EEC-- average. - 6.4% of all employees in 1981 as oppOsá&

to

98%:

tiSA

^no, o doub,. explains why thd in&ividual' sectortat comesnearestta tetinq the -Earget of an- equivalent number of full.. an& pare H ma' t±-ainees was tdistributjolthn, the

one

ía

which. 'pare-1-4 Me working

Is

iready most highly deve1opedT . It also., dxpIa' s why females _r the traditional part time workers, are overrepresente& amoxrgat a ^I time trainees- they make up 50% of all trainees but. _...;.... 621 .. ... ..of. part timers. .

Nor& 1.mportantly', 'however, _th necess.. tack

time

^-

o 'o±tuuities thhin the schoolin; and fii±th& - ^Se-asS ucation r ed

s

Cot wi+lttn'e±tterprise&. thems1ves) lax el did nqexist.

Conseuently many organizations wet e' simply unabTh to fulfill their obligations, and had of necessity- to wait upon external developments. This waiting strategy was,_encolfra4edbyQians to rasse'1the minimum school leaving age' and. iirSoduce a. part'

-' - 16, year olds, and moves 1) Unpubj i qherl. data t* avail nhl ^oI by the Natiaial Thpiaynent Office

- 12 ^-

to establish- a. system cf industrial apprettticeshis., This latter woul& also ^-involve an;

"alternatinq training"-

component and according to its

terms,.:

apprentices.would. bE counted as part time trainees.. The: Iegislation. 9aver ing industrial a- .renticesh.tps was.; fi.nafl ^; passed-An. summer 1983 1) whilst in. _-.. ^ci,mmor 19:8.4: the. Education. Minis ^- ave. its. approval to a

.r ..::.... . ::. .. ___.._ .. .. . . . ...

network :of "Centreaf..ipctr. time secondary education" that would

be..

operative at the

start

of. the. next schoolyear. Hence,

it

might

be anticipate& that. the number , of

part i-line trainees

Will-,

{nrre.asa

:in the future.. However,, it must; al so. be recognized that: at least i=_ the first instance,., the government imposed on employing organizations

am

obligation- wh{r}t it itself was

unable ta meet. The proportion.

of.

part

^.

time tra.tneeshipa

in thw public sector. had reached:.

only

'21t by. end. 1.983',. whilst n the,

first year

of the schemes life-, it was

even considerably

lower (1.3% of all. "trai.neeC)..

This. .having been..

said,,

there. are- in.

tance.s.

^of • efforts, being made to. develop practicable: systems. of ^.

"alternating

training'

that. satisf the re- ements. of the- a stem., of. "-art

time.

traineeship... Here .we shall report briefly upon two of these, an experimental, programme in; the west-Flanders textile- industry 2)

more; .éneral.

initiative-

within the province, of 'Limburg 1.

The recession. in. the. textile indu~_strX in the early 19 70s .

and

the decline in.

employment

opportunities

that came.

with

this

discouraged many

young

persons. from,

under.taking7

a technical education in the skills of this sector. The number of schools offering such training

sunk

from eleven to four... Subsequently, however,,

and

as a consequence of. a.

maj

or rationalization and.

1) see Internationale C=miik zur ±eitsnarktliti1c' (des.

Wissensdiaas-

zentruirs Berlin) No., 14, Oct. 1983, p.. 14..

2) frfrNj

_{on. this}

experiment is drn

£au.

"Kbrtrijks texdal op zcek naar"gescblde. a±eiders" v in: De

Standaard,.. 27.5.83'. and. F. Schotte,

Laren (manuscript prided. by Vát1c1 .Thaiting'Department

Of the Federation

of Belgium. Industries) n.d.

3) info

^rmat

i

^on

, on this. initiative. is drawn frau "Laren in de Fabriek" in

De S1-nr1rd, 29.8.83.

- 13 -

monrnIUon process, competitiveness has been restored, but many enterprises now- find, themselves facing a. shortage of skifled. labour.. It was this last that motivated, the industry, together with the trade unions, the local labour market

authbntjes and., technical schools, to conceive of a so-called

'taccelerak.e&tr I n lug scheme", training young' persons wn one year rather than the three normnl ly required by the

technical school system. This "accelerated. training scheme"

itself is b1è& upon the pr±Etpii at wfl at.ig training"', and when 44cn 1enredin. lateL 1982 *

80 young persons and. 33. enterprises..

Most participahta were between the ages of 16 and 19 and were pré.viousI unemployed... Most had completed an initial technical school lng in. woodworking,. mechanical or electrical engineering, and. i3j this respect the programme has a rétraining"

àomponeat to it_ This last,. indeed,, was one reason why the tr'nftxg period coul& be so idceieratea., and. it also, meant

. -.

that the enterprises were assuring themselves a suppzs

"polyvalene and not just single skill employees. 3he first six thon.ths of the programme are spent in. school, in a course Which is very much fin-cr anted,, with tral n _4ng staff from

enterprises f'h'inselves participating as- "'guest_"% teachers. After this period the young persons transfer to., ^the individual

eats -rises, for a. further six,months "on-the-job" -training, but also receive within this time a total of 77 hours. of

"social education" • Such, a schedule was chosen in preference to one involving, -continuous part time working,. Aince , the enterprises felt it would be impossible to employ perons on other than & full time basis1 in the rotating' shift systems they operate..,

During, the period of in-chooJ-trainjng the young persons

-

^are in the financial cbar.e o the labour market au±horjt e

and. are treated as "persons following attaining course;'. Insofar as they are entiEled to them, they can draw unemployment

be,nefjts, and these are supplemented by a flat rate 'payzuent

- 14 -

of BE 40 for each hour spent in. school.;. During the subsequent period., of !onrthe-j.obPtt*aining the same- allowánce.as applied to full time "trainees" is paid. The participating ante -rises

• arantee.. .ermanent employment contracts-.. to. those taken ono the course, ub-iectto them having satisfacgflj,y concluded

their tr4j.ninq t. should,. .towever, be noted; that' a considerable preselection takes place,. some- 300; young' persons: originally

applied for a- place... For then it. was the guarantee of a job which was the single greatest incentive to take part.

The initiative. intimburl is. even mote re.cent; it started to gperate only in autumn- 1 ItL. The provincial, authorities

considte& aLternatinjjlng to be particularly - suitable- - for young' persons whoa were. wthe& of schoot" and who were looking' for a.. good. 3obT. k number of 6-1fferent local instances ...

am responsible for the.- orgaMatiom of -the - .scheme - The 'Regional Development Association" is- responsible. for winning; enterprises invoIvement.,_ the local labour - market authorities. for helping' im a. presetection, of. participants and for providing certain training personnel, whilst enterprises and schools- themselves make the final selection and. arrange the details of the courses.

In the first year four- enterprises front. the metal-, -- mechanical and, electrical-engineering sectors agreed to participate..

Depending' on. the firms concerned,, the age and. qualifications of the young persons varied.. At one- extreme 16-18. year olds without any fdxmal technical school certificate. were recruited,

• at the- other only -1.8 year olds with- at intermediate technical qualification. In this.-case. the- enterprise's; interest was as much as anyt1ting e-]Se., to use the public experiment to gain experience for establishing its own internal. "alternating training" system. Rather than separating the schooling period from

"on,

-the-job"-training period as in. the scheme run by the Flanders.' textile.industry, the Limbuschern!4.VoyeS alternating. two week periods- of learning and' working. In each case the- young persons- are- split- into two groups. Thus the training capacity - of both - the schools and the enterprises-

isOntinuots1y J.±1 üséandLit is pOis-iblá. to

Sik

Of

A

sort of

"job sharing' taking plaOS

Essent lily the game arz-alngepen# xia+---,Wi-th,respedt to the

remuneration of the young persona as in the previously described experiment. A "trainees,? wage is paid for f4tna spent in the firm, u ipymentbeneAat pLus acours, allcwance?', for tiEtscho1.

Unlike the. scheme in the tevI-i is industry, however there is apparently not any," fprnrni guarantee of subseqp.ent employment

: .... ^{. .}

for these who successful. conclude the courses

Ta _date, and with respect to both. efforts', all parties involved

4 -

have è - ressed. satis with the a -of ."alternatin tr1nng" Already in. the Wst,FIanders other en.terprises

- ''t -

cl-bar sectors,. hivt shown. an interest in tryinç to emulate the texta.le. indn1 sob ama The onLy reservations voiced so far have,, in. both cases,., been. directed to the relationship of "alternating traininq" to traditional full l-te technical education. in schools. The. fact that a r tiyeiy high allowance is paid to, participants, in the former has been suggested as likely to threaten. the attractiveness' for young persons of, the latter.

3.2- "*O±k{*, - &teaSin' in- Ge=rLany-

The learxng-elemnnt of the Belgian progrannd, just desdribed was concerned prtmnrl ly with the provision of an occupational training-,''tied very sperifi catty to the particular job,, that

x9a4

pà±t time worker- was. performing. jthe 9ezman p oqaie that ,Wilt now, be presented, its ob ectiveis. the rovision a qenral educatiox_ ts tar-et

who have So fat failed. H attain. their ban

stEteF ossássion of which i. alzndSt a "sine qua non"

for access to the normal "port

I

of entry" to working life, an apprenticeship, and is becoming increasingly necessary to obtain even an unskilled job.

It is recognized tha±áa :iittPb±tthit±éáSdxi fôr südh: jrdthk persons refusal toremain within or return to the formal school system ,

- II

- 16 -

to try and remedy their labour market deficiencies, jff tiredness at the-. classroom!' and a desire. for. an, on sourck of income and the "more adult status:" of being. at work. 1 Accordinglya number of experiments have: besa undertaken to .graft the opporpty

of finish basic secondary s.chobl±nq onto ;traditiona,l job' creation proqrrnmns for young persons ,-It is,. however, the case that the labour market problems of many potential participants are of a more extensive nature than simply -a. lack of educational

qualifications-.. Manyj of the young persons have serious personal difficulties. (alcohol at drug- abusel or familiar problems

(single parent fnr4 11 ev long-term unemployment of the. "bread- winner").. Often they lack the motivation either to work or to learn.. Thii, an important element of the programmes has been the provision. of accompanying soc pqgp9cal care and advice..

The experlmanl-5 with. "working and, learning," ' were ^mT the: first.

instance 'conducted. 'atthe_ level of a -less (Lander) r more recently (spring 19 &3 ) r the conditions of the

ob creatica •rograitrne wére - äménded - to. enable - ...t.,,'...,.. st.ckéfforts to be féderafl sonsored. and. at present Soma \2-30o young- persons are •articipating in such schemear In this. sector we shall concentrate primarily on the efforts; of one: of the states,.

North-Rhine- Westphalia and:. subsequently make brief reference to the terms of the newer,. Federal programme..

e• involve& relatively tradItionalvattern and was financed under Federal job creation ... yisions. Worknig hours ..'t'-'---.t-

were 20 per week, schedulecL over half days and in the mornings.

In 1981 the part time jobs concerned yielded a net income of between 45.4 and. 64.4 DM per month. SchooL, attendance, in special classes. arranged. by local-colleges of further education

1) Information on --pi q programme.was obtairad via an. interts with offiriAls. of the. State flxploynent Office of- Narth-Ebine Westphalia who also provided a series, of background papers prepared by

rdinators of thditñ,tial projects carried ot in the state.

- 17 -

(VolkshbóhsdhW.ej:,: took -lace

in

the afterithona

and

occupied an approximately ci m+ lair number of hours.. To. compensate for tran'àport costs and fot "loss o •oteutial earnSn s" as a

conse• uence of . artici. ation. in school tnq, the State. government paid participants. ,& gran-L-- of further, 130 1DM per, month, this coming- froa speciaflr allocated, funds.. Finally,, the young' persons wart. a-iso. entitled to cla.tn the. means tested, Federal

study. allowance (BA20EG,), which for those coming iron households with_ the lowest income vauld. have. yieide& a. further 130 DM, per month.. (half the ynnlrnnnt payabia in: the. case of full-, time

education4. yarticipants vere thus assure d. art insubst

level

of

^{finnrl n I} securitc,, and one that was at, tetst, if not more '-ban. comparable. with. that accordet to a young- gu..

following an. apprentice shia,.

Individra'F projects were. always verv _slMJj',, rarely 'e*dSediág' 20 part' cl pta. Their duration varied eonsiderably, some tasting as little as _&P. others as long- as 19 months and de-ended upon. the average pta-en-' educa'doüal a.LLp+nnient o participants and the- partiän 1 r orgSttEers! perceptions apjt how, long such art intensive exercise. could be siast'n %ed by the young- persons concerned.. In, nearly an caMs it seems as if participants did not respond spontan°ousty to genera publicity for the scheme, but rather,' as a result of personal inter-

ventions by social workers and careers advisets were

qrijfliinij y Persuaded' to. register'.. Drop.out frates wEre rather high, some. 31A. Inability to cope with dEmands of' the. programme - or exaqerbation of personal problems, not the f1 niB nq of

il3hernative unsubsidized. em.lo • ent, was, the prime reason, for •remature finishes.. According to at least one accompanying study, for' the organizations p rovid.tn,g the job creation positions, the employment of the youig persons was often more of a burden than, a relief.. There were., however,, also some surprises, with work behaviour contrasting radically, and positively, to

school behaviour. As we,noted. originally, an imporant component of the schemes was the social pedagogical welfare provision,

the very, intensity, of which is perhaps the. most striking impression a reading of the background reports dives. Each

individual, programme involve& its own full time, social worker.

A brief overvi..cf "success rates" for-the period between the . .- ..

experiment's commencement.' In, early 1980 an& spring 1982 is available. By this... last. data 4.. projects had been concluded in which a. total. 392. . vounq persons had been- involved. Of these 269 (or 691) ha&2art.ci until the end, and 187 had d.

successfufly, gained a basic secondary school. certificate.' This:. represents 70% off those completing the schethe and. 48.1 of: those- starting.. Thee immadiatety subsequent labour market behaviour of completers . (Euccessful. and. unsuccessful) was also.

mcnith±eth.

- 67 started n apprentirnFr+p or other vocational training- programme;

- 56: started regular work;

- 16 returned. .to further education;

- 68 became unemployed;

-. 62 were no longer in- contact with the employment service..

Im some cases 1-hi was the result of' their starting military service or getting married and. thus. .withd±awing from the labour force,, in other result at th.ir moving away, or of unknown factors.. At least in some cases, it can, be ass,itnnt that fa'iLara to. make -contact with-.the employment offices was a conseqpence' of starting' .a job., or apprenticeship which had beet found independently.

Thus 'just under a third. (31%-) of those young: persons who started, and just under a.half (.46%) of those who' had completed the

programme entered either formal employment-or oc.cutional

training,, an outcome which' the State Employment Office considered as very positive.

As had been.. said, it-was only .n the spring of 1983 that schemes such as that operated by North-Rhine Westphalia were instituted on a. Federal level under the terms' of the Labour Promotion Act.

Whilst until that time training schemes and job creation schemes

19 -

involving a training element boulcl be supported,. this- was bnly possible if the tráiñin4waE. of , aft

bobilrfAtionAt,iiot

a

Sneral

nature.. Schooling with the. objective of atainiñg the

basic

secondary certificate fell into the latter caté gory. "Working _- and learning" schemes. can, however, now be fuLly financed, by

the Federal Employment Offitétit& the ,: "leátW": e1eth4x±. p jja for either-? through. conventional training- grants: according

to the. Labour Pxomotitxr Act or special. trãi.ning grants for young persons according to the Employment Promótion Act.

Furthermore. accor&tnç to-. a yet more recent (ate 1983)

adm4nt

tratJse. order of the Federal. Employment Office., it is now possible, to' se traditional job creatiat funds to' finance the- emplpyment of.

persortpel

recruited to a krecckgnizisd, additional training activities... This new , potnon coverC

"working and-learning.' schemes and substantiaLly increases opportunities for the programmes future expansidn...

4.

INDflECZ MRASURES.

The measures so far discssse& have all had., the creation of, part- time opportunities for young persons on, their

direct

objective In the following section we stall be examinig programmes where the principle obaeqtive

sf

the programme was the expansion of part tuna working either

ia general.

or

for cIder, workers

within the framework of the promotion of gradual retirement, but

where, as. in

indirect

consegpence, more part time positions for young persons could, or might be expected to ensue..

4.4

The British "Job. Splitting Scheme"

The British "Job splitting Scheme't was announced in summer 1982 and became operative at the start of 1983. It offered a flat rate subsidy. ( 70)

to

employers splitting existing full time

jobs in two and filling ths vacancies sO created. by unemployed or potentially unethplofWd rsons. It was anticipatedtht within twoyears 100,000 new part time positions would. thereby be created. However, not only had previous experiments in _th

-20-

FR Germany and. the Netherlands suggested.. that: such "employer subsidies' were very ineffective,, the British scheme was also criticized as; having. 'its owc particular deficiencies. It

restricted. recru±.thents.. to recipients of- unemployment

compensation,, thus. excluding the largest single category of part.

*1

^mo job. ,seeker.s, married women, who. according to the particular workings:. at the British.. social.insurance :systeI are. often.. not entitled. to. such. bene±its'. ,Furthénnore,, bedause redundancy compensation: is Linked to last- earnings,, many

persons fearing: futhre:- dismissal would be discouraged from:

contemplating: cutting their- hours'. of.work.. Most: importantly, both. for those. tdér.. notice at. dismissal . andtthe unéniplOyed,.

the, level of ea.rningw attainable fluaspart time. work was.

probably less than the level,, at income assured. by- the

unem-

ployment.—compensation. system'11

.Ear all.. of—these. reasons it. Is not surpris.ing':that:within, the first year of the schema's existence only-. 774. subsidies,

invo'Lving. a total. of T548 part time' jobs,. had been granted..

Reflecting the traditional. concentration, of part time working amongst femates, the overwhelming- majority (some 761) of persons concerned. were- women.,. whilst the:, sector in which, the jobs were located, were also those where part H ^ma- working is most usually

found (food and drink, distribution and miscellaneous.

services) 2.)

Returning: to. the point- that for many (potentially) unemployed' persons the level of' social security benefits: to which they were entitled. was: Likely to exceed part time earnings., it was recognized. that one group was. an , exception to this, young persons and particularly new entrants to: the labour market.

1) For further details-- of'points raised in this paragraph see B.. Casey,. Govenurental Measures Promoting Pat Ttht Working:

thrienc'' ^in;. Belgium,. France, the Netherlands and the FR Gennany. Discussion rk-VPT- carl cc of' the International Institute of Manart, .Wisssthaftsz' Berlin,. I4/Ib2'. 83-26, pp. i2-i 6'.

2) Statistics cited here.are calculated from unpth].i.shed data made available ' by the Depart=ent of Nxployxtent.

4.1 The BritiSh "'a±t. Ti éJbb

eleue saheint

For those who have. no previous employment history,.. or- who have not worked long enough ta acquire rights, to unemployment

11

insurance, tJie: only benefit., aIM Tn*hle Lis: A means. SSS&. allowance, the

rates of which are ager. related, and thus for young persons partithilarly low., The. expectauoit that young- persons might be overrepresente& amongst part -1mers covered: by the job splitting schinà'is cthfi±ine& by

thtdltar

uñdeiYZS year olds make up

48% of these,. whilst iander .18 year olds. alone account for some 10%.

Ia announcing- the "trob Splitting Schem&' r the. government suggested that the&_ opportunitt ta switch part time working might be

particularly attractive tO older worketrin the last years of ^{*hval r} working- Il-f's t thereby thight be. able to.- reti re

graciufly.,. It wasfr however',, pointed out by óbservert at the time thatt since the vast majorit± of' occdpat.tonaL pension sys&ems fix- the benefits they pay as. a proportion of

last

earnings,.

the. scheme might well flit

rn

this objective.. To take a part time job. iTmnadia.tely Eefore retirement would. have serious preatdiciat consequences for the level of the. pos4,-retirement income.

mrs

shortcoming- too has been con.firiued, only d of the - part

men,. it otthltal

nedEO or over.

Efforts ta promote graduaL retirement were taken one step. further in Great Britain in a programme

Eis

avealed,

La

1983 and, taking effect ftbm October that year. Since 17, under the so-called 97

"Job Releasei Scheme" , persons in the last few years of their working lives have been able to retire early on a special

"bridging allowance", provided that their employer recruits a registered themployed .person. as a (direct or indirect)

replaroniont. Currently there are some 901000 persons in receipt of this allowance. The. new "Part Time Job Release Scheme"

allowed for partial early retirement, with half the normal bridginqr allowance. payable,

-stbjct

to the employer refilling

- 22 -

the part time vacancies so created1 '. It. should. be. noted, in this respect,. that two part time vacancies: cannot be combined.

to create One: fun. ti m one;. recruitments have ta be on a part tins basis. For the same reasons as applied to the "Job

Splitting: Scheme", it might well be anticipated. that, young persons would. be. featured. heavily amongst those persons

applying- for and being: taken on into the part, time vacancies..

Whilst. the. "Part Tile. Job Release S'Oheme"... was-. potentially more attractive. to: older workers, than the. "1Tob Splitting:

Schema' insn4nr- as th& reduced income from% part time work was topped up,, the. other disadvantages with respect. to. possible redundancy payments and,, more particularly,. future occupational pensions remained Furthermore-., the, scheme was also.., cumbersome from. the employers.' point of. -vi, he was ohi+ge& both to

guarantee replacement and to reorganize previously. full 'Hmn

workk on a. part. time basis.. Taken.. together, these factors might well explaim the. singular lack of success . the: scheme has: had.

In the: five months to the start of. March. 1984,. only 37 persons:

(32 men. an& 5. women) had. taken the opportunity to.. participate in the srhamn.. This ia to compare, to' the.54.,000 by March 1985 that the Labour Ministry had originally hoped fbr2

4.3. The.. French. "Solidarity: .Contractst "fOr-.Progressive Retirement"'

An in many, ways similar programme to that which had just'. been described has- also been. operating: _in France since autumn 1981.. The- systen of. .so-calle& "Solidarity 'Contracts'! provided support for additional hirings, consequent upon accelerated reductions in. weekly working time and for full early retirement from as little as 55 years subject to compensatory recruitments'. being

t

made.. In,. addition,, it sought to,, encourage "progressive retirement"

i.e. the opportunity for .older workers to transfer to part time 1) sea Intsrndnnale C)ronik ^.+kM tarklitik (des Wisssthafts-'

zen'zns' Pr1 ill)' No. 12, April 1983, p. 11.

2) impublished data. made available- by the Department ' of Eknploytrent.

23

work - so long- as the. enterprise agkeed. to- maizflain the sama

volume of enloymén.t, exprssed in full time eqpivalents, as previously. Partial reiieet received: a "topping-up paymene ?(

at well as a *ae/saIart for hours actually worked. The recruit- ments that the employing enterprise had to make to satisfy tbe cbMitionS of the "Solidarity Contract" were.,to be drawn from particn1tt ràup of job. seekers wtt& particular emphasis

being

given- to young ni entrants ,to the labour market and under 2t yeü olds, ingla heads at fanili ts,. the compensated: unen-m ployeCand. the long-1en unémplâyed: whoLad exhausted

their

rights to- beiieiti1

t7nljka unde,t

the.

Etitish "Part Time lob Release Schen,e

vacancies created: br lder workers transferring to part tuna work

needet not 'be

fifle&

oh a

part time

basis

_{it 'was}

possible for tt duct part time vacàhcies to be combined: into one fisfl ¹-tine poait'in.,. Inofar as the vacancies were part time then for reasons very simiIa to those. applying to the British prograñtrne it cOuld well be that it was young- persons who

wodl&

have the g±eates&. incentive to accept such positions..

it wa& also sowete±,

tile

case that part time working- might be aSaativt to sThile- heads of families who were trying to

coinb{b'e work- ana ^{füiil ly} lift and: to- the, long-term unemployed with

lottiV]si

of

iooii

sat;

two

of the other- prefered categories of recruits.. In fact,. no data is availabi& on ho%i far

the

vacancies created, werefined on. a part time basis

nor, o= how fat particnl r cateoriea of persons were rpteseñted amongst those taken on.

What is, however, z

known,

is that the "Solidarity Contracts for Pro^ll gressive Retiremeht" like those for an accelerated reduction of working time, proved rcmurkably unsuccessful.. Whilst, in

1982, over 981 of the nearly 30,0(j0 "Solidarity Contracts"

signed by enterpriEea éialofl±xg a total:oftnet145 m p sons 1) sees "Internationals Chrczsik ztm' At±eitsxnarktpolitik" (s Wissenschafts-

zentrtAns Berlin) , No. 7. ^Jnirnty 19821. bcus.

- 24 —

contained, provisions for fun early, retirement, only 4.1%

contained provisions: for progressive retirement.. These

progressive, retirement arrgements themsslves concerned only a,.200 persons. compared.. to 3101.600 effected by full, retirement.

As in the case of the- British "Job, Splitting Schema", the

gradual retireet seem.. to, have been concentrated. in those sectors.

where incidence of. part.

^Hmn'

working is: already average,.

notably- the. service, sector.. This picture did not . substantially change in, the

course.

of the first quarter, of 1993, by the end of which, it is

esti Tnnte&

that the large maaonty, of potential

"Solidarity Contracts!- had. already beerL concIuded1 ..

The s.inqla_ most important- reasoir for the failure t

this scheme- for progress±we retirement was probably tht simultaneOus

availability at the prvisioa for full ' ear3_y:rstirement23 Whilst the- circular. setting. out. procedure for putting- the

principle. of gfl7-1 ty ContractC into, effect suggested. that

"the, local labour market. authorities should. advise enterprises.

contemplating concluding' contracts for full. rat4rement to

consl

^or-

eçnA-1 ly

poFn*hk14t-t

for. progressive-i rpfr+rementwh±ch.

facilitates the passage. to ratirevpt and allows- the enterprise to progressively ass1

^{inI 1}

ate the new: recruits who . can; be trained by a more experienced. worker"3 r neithar' employers nor employees.

had. much incentive to adapt this solution,.. For enterprises, the 1) see. "Lea amtrats den1iAr1t& a 1982!!,,. in-. 31-Thn de l.'atploi 198Z,

Bulletin tis't1 des Statistaquesdtrflail —p6m1:

no

104k. 1983, - arid., Le-poiirt. sir lea conLa,Ls de. soitRnritâ

a

31 nars...1.983: (unpublished

manuscript made available by Service des

^E1m4c.'

de ].a. Stati.stique), 15 avril 83..

2) Unlike in Britain, pension rights were

nct.pretvqirvA

by taking up the opportunity to. transfer . to. part tine working., The French "caxplantary"

(as. well. as.

^"hn1

c") nqj-

^rhnnq

pay benEfits; as a. proportion of earnings, obtainable nble.

LruAL

continued ft-fl

ti

i3dng were credited'. to retirees.

^nn,ar

the

SMi+r9n*1ty

Contracts.".

3) Quoted in I Legislation Socials

V No.

5146,

22 fevrier' 82.