Migrant key workers and social cohesion in Europe

11 January 2022

As many other developed countries, the EU member states and the European Union as a whole are torn by a deep contradiction: their increasing reliance on migrant labour in key sectors of the economy, such as agriculture and care, on the one hand, and the incapacity to improve the more-often-than-not indecent working conditions of those very same migrants and to implement viable social and labour protection schemes to ensure decent and equal treatment.

The exploitative and abusive working conditions under which migrant workers are often employed in Europe, affect their capability to integrate and increase their social and economic exclusion and vulnerability.

The Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and the Think-Tank for Action on Social Change (TASC) are pleased to present their latest study on “Migrant key workers and social cohesion in Europe”, which has focused on four countries – Germany, Greece, Ireland and Spain – to investigate working and living conditions of migrants employed in the agricultural and care sectors in Europe, to assess how these conditions impact on the migrants’ daily life and on their capability to partake in community life. It also considers to what extent improper legislation hinders rather than facilitates migrants’ inclusion.

Agenda | Publication