Towards Full Employment? The Idea of the Job Guarantee in Europe and the Solution of Hungary

Abstract

The growing phenomenon of unemployment is holding back the development and performance of the European Union as a whole, especially long-term unemployment. In view of this, governments are trying to promote employment in various ways, to which the idea of a job guarantee scheme now seems like a holy grail. Both the foreign literature and the social partners see this as a solution, and the paper will therefore present the essence of this concept, its implications and characteristics, particularly with regard to green and sustainable employment policies. It will then be compared with similar Hungarian public employment schemes, which have been in existence for several years, thus highlighting the potential weaknesses and challenges of the ‘new’ concept.