The social economy has received increasing policy attention in recent decades, particularly with regard to its contribution to employment. Much has been written about the potential role of the social economy as a solution to unemployment. It has been estimated that social economy organisations (SEOs) broadly defined as co-operatives, mutuals, associations and foundations, together account for 6.5% of aggregate employment in the European Union (Monzon and Chavez, 2012). However recent policy attention has more narrowly focused on the role of SEOs in work integration for vulnerable groups (such as the long term unemployed, or those with physical or mental health issues). At the same time, little is known about working conditions within SEOs, particularly for these vulnerable individuals.
This report examines the role of SEOs in the provision of employment, and how they have fared during the recent period of economic turbulence. Attention was also paid to SEOs working with vulnerable individuals, either as direct providers of jobs, or providers of training and services designed to help vulnerable individuals into the mainstream labour market. In particular, the research sought to gain greater understanding of working conditions within these SEOs, and the challenges they faced in providing high quality employment while having to keep costs low in order to operate in competitive markets.
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The report has in two distinct parts. The first part, whose structure is outlined below, situates the focus of the research within the wider literatures and explores the data from a survey undertaken in eight countries. The second part of the report provides a short overview of the social economy within the surveyed territories and the survey results from those territories.
Table of Contents
| Introduction | ||
| PART 1: Job Creation Through The Social Economy And Social Entrepreneurship | ||
| The Social Economy | ||
| Defining the social economy | ||
| A note on social enterprise | ||
| International comparative studies of the social economy and social enterprise | ||
| Activities of social economy organisations | ||
| Funding sources of social economy organisations | ||
| The Contribution of the Social Economy to Employment | ||
| The work integration dimension of the social economy | ||
| Employment quality in the social economy | ||
| Summary | ||
| Methodology | ||
| Overview of the Cases | ||
| Funding sources | ||
| Sectors of operation | ||
| Age of the social economy organisations | ||
| Numbers of jobs provided by social economy organisations | ||
| Summary | ||
| Employment Creation by the Social Economy Organisations | ||
| Factors influencing changes in employment levels | ||
| Summary | ||
| Social Economy Organisations Working with Vulnerable Groups | ||
| Types of work with vulnerable groups | ||
| Indicators of success in work with vulnerable groups | ||
| Summary | ||
| Employment Quality in Social Economy Organisations | ||
| Challenges in delivering employment quality | ||
| Summary | ||
| Policy Interventions and Conclusions | ||
| Suggested policy interventions to support SEOs’ role in employment creation | ||
| Suggested policy interventions to support SEOs’ work with vulnerable individuals | ||
| Suggested policy interventions to improve job quality in the social economy | ||
| Concluding thoughts and interventions: a tale of two social economies | ||
| PART 2: Territorial Data | ||
| Introduction | ||
| Tasmania, Australia | ||
| Western Sydney, Australia | ||
| Flanders, Belgium | ||
| British Columbia, Canada | ||
| Quebec, Canada | ||
| Burgundy, France | ||
| Brittany, France | ||
| Lombardy, Italy | ||
| Puglia, Italy | ||
| Luxembourg | ||
| Regiunea Centru, Romania | ||
| Regiunea Sud Est, Romania | ||
| Östergötland, Sweden | ||
| Västra Götaland, Sweden | ||
| Annex | ||
| References | ||
| Endnotes | ||
