The number of people unemployed for more than a year has fallen sharply since 2010, according to an analysis by the National Employment Office (RVA) on Tuesday.
The employment office has charted the evolution of long-term unemployment since 1945, and today it is currently at a level similar to that of the late 1970s.
The period 1975-1995 saw a large increase in long-term unemployed people. Although there are currently still more unemployed people who are medium- or long-term unemployed than at the end of the 1970s, we have seen a sharp decline in that group over the last decade.
A major reason for the drop in long-term unemployment, according to the RVA, is the reforms of schemes where the unemployed were exempted from looking for work. Particularly, the reform of the early retirement pension and the exemption due to age or professional record.
"As a result, fewer potentially long-term unemployed are flowing in," clarifies Nathalie Nuyts (RVA), the author of that study. "In addition, we see long-term unemployed people flowing out, mainly into employment and retirement, and to a lesser extent into disability benefits."
According to Nuyts, despite the drop, the current figures do not signify the end of structural unemployment: “Even in the best economic conditions, there are now jobseekers who find it harder to find their way back to a job.”
