MIPEX: Migrant Integration Policy Index

There’s an interesting cross-national policy dataset called “Migrant Integration Policy Index,” or MIPEX.

 

“The Migrant Integration Policy Index is a unique long-term project which evaluates and compares what governments are doing to promote the integration of migrants in all EU Member States and several non-EU countries. It uses over 100 policy indicators to create a rich, multi-dimensional picture of migrants’ opportunities to participate in European societies. This site presents the results of the second edition of the MIPEX, covering six policy areas which shape a migrant’s journey to full citizenship. The third edition is currently in progress.”

 

It covers 28 countries and ranks them according to many types of migrant policies, including labor market access, political participation and anti-discrimination, among others.  Ranking is conducted by “experts.”

 

“The MIPEX II network comprises 25 partner organisations, led by British Council and Migration Policy Group, with Research Partners at Sheffield University and the Universite Libre de Bruxelles.”

 

“The project is co-financed by the European Community under the INTI Programme – Preparatory Actions for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals.”

 

Here is the website:

http://www.integrationindex.eu/

 

Their methodology is here:

 

http://www.integrationindex.eu/topics/2653.html

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UK National Equality Panel: Inequality Wider than 40 Years Ago

According to a recent report:

The gap between rich and poor in the UK is wider now than 40 years ago, a government-commissioned report says.

“Deep-seated and systemic differences” remain between men and women and minority groups in pay and employment, the National Equality Panel found.

It said in areas such as neighbourhood renewal, taxes and education, policy action was needed to limit inequality.

Apparent discrimination against people from ethnic minorities was revealed in the report, with those from nearly every minority group less likely to be in paid work than white British men and women.

The panel – set up by the government in 2008 – found that despite women up to the age of 44 having better qualifications than men, men were still paid up to 21% more per hour.

But the authors pointed out that some of the greatest differences come within social groups.

Among women, many work part-time, earning less than £7.20 an hour, much less than the median pay of £9.90 across the country.

The study said that the type of job and pay a parent had could have a cumulative effect throughout a person’s life, setting them on “tracks that make all sorts of differences”.

By retirement, the difference between rich and poor can be “colossal”, the report added.

The panel pointed out that half of those who have worked in the top professions have net assets worth more than £900,000, while a 10th of those who have had unskilled jobs have property, savings and possessions worth less than £8,000.

Poland: Economy, Demography and Other Statistics

The main information source about Poland’s economy (and other statistics) come from GUS, their Central Statistical Office.  A number of their publications are translated into English.

—  Year of Labor Statistics 2006 (focusing on years 2003-2004, year of EU ascension)

—  Registered Unemployment 2008

—  State of the Economy 2009 

What is the state of the Polish economy 2009?

“In February of this year, unfavourable tendencies in the basic areas of economy, which commenced in the 2nd half of  the previous year, maintained. A deep drop was still recorded in sold production of industry, and the dynamics of construction and assembly production weakened considerably. Retail sales were lower than the high ones observed in the previous year. The prices of consumer goods and services, as well as the producer prices in industry grew faster, in annual terms, than in the previous months, whereas the producer prices in construction grew slower. With a decrease of average employment in the enterprise sector, once again the rate of registered unemployment increased in monthly terms, but it was still lower than in February of the previous year. The business tendency surveys conducted in March indicate a further, though still lower than in the previous months, weakening of consumer confidence, as well as still pessimistic, though slightly better than in the previous month, forecasts of entrepreneurs in manufacturing and in construction, in the scope of order-books, production, as well as the financial situation.”

—  Demographic Yearbook 2008

—  Changes in demographics over time (1946 – 2006)

—  Income and Living Conditions 2006

Inequality Around the World

The World Bank website on Inequality Around the World has many interesting papers about economic inequality.  Most of the papers are by Branko Milanovic.

Comparative Social Inequality is Back

The course, Comparative Social Inequality, taught at the Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw, has been reinstated. All eligible to register are encouraged to do so. We meet Tuesdays, 16:00 – 17:30 in Room 304, at the Institute of Sociology.

The syllabus for 2009 is here.  You can find readings here.

Trade Wars: U.S. vs. E.U. in Intra-Core Rivalry

Another example of intra-core rivalry within the capitlaist world system:

One of the Bush administration’s last acts was to levy punitive tariffs on a wide range of luxury foods from Europe — including fancy mineral water, exquisite chocolates and Roquefort cheese — in retaliation for an E.U. ban on hormone-treated American beef. Professor Chad Bown of Brandeis University talks about this and earlier trade disputes.

Listen to the audio story from NPR here.

Social Class Origins, Social Class Destinations: UK

• Social Class and Social Justice
• Author(s): Gordon Marshall and Adam Swift
• Source: The British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 44, No. 2 (Jun., 1993), pp. 187-211  

Abstract

This paper poses the issue of distributive justice in terms of the relationship between social class, social mobility and educational attainment, in contemporary Britain. Having discussed various conceptions of justice which might vindicate class inequality, the authors investigate empirically the specifically meritocratic defence, and report survey data suggesting that the effect of class origins on class destinations is only partially mediated by educational achievement. Class privilege can compensate for educational failure. Gender is also significant since women tend to fare worse than men with similar class origins and credentials. This evidence undermines the claim that Britain is a meritocratic society and supports the suggestion that only by political intervention can equality of opportunity be rendered compatible with significant and structured inequality of outcome.