Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> andie nachgeborenen wrote:
>
> >But here I am puzzled again -- don't European
> >unemployment figures include mainly those who want
> >work and can't find it?
>
> So do U.S. stats.
>
> The OECD and BLS produce standardized unemployment rates, according
> to similar definitions. For 2003, according to the OECD, U.S.
> unemployment was 6.0%, the EU-15 was 8.0% - and Sweden's, 5.6%.
> Employment/pop ratios were 65.6%, 56.1%, and 72.6%, respectively.
> Spain, a low-wage country, had an EPR of 48.7%, and Germany, a very
> high-wage country, 58.7%. So, it's hard to argue from these stats
> that social democracy causes unemployment, or that low wages
> encourage employment. It's all a lot more complicated than that
> simple story.
Perhaps a start would be the following two comparisons (if they could be made even roughly):
1. What is the living standard of the unemployed in each of the countries under discussion?
2. What is the living standard of the lowest quintile of the employed in each country?
Obvious point: it is better to be unemployed (or low-waged) in a nation with a national health service than in one without such a health service.
One might also compare crime rates and infant death rates in public housing in the countries under comparison. (Or select some other context for measuring the housing of the unemployed and the low-waged.)
Carrol
> Doug
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