Tuesday, October 11, 2011

FAFCE Conference on the contribution of “invisible work” to the creation of wealth



17 October in Brussels: FAFCE Conference on the contribution of “invisible work” to the creation of wealth


In the framework of the European Year of Volunteering and with regard to the recommendations of the Stiglitz report, the findings of the recent OECD report Cooking, Caring and Volunteering: Unpaid Work Around the World, and the EESC Opinions SOC/243, SOC/366 et SOC/399, theFAFCE organises a conference under the sponsorship of Group III of the European Economic and Social Committee on the contribution of « invisible work » to the creation of wealth – an added value to the social cohesion.

According to the OECD report mentioned above “household production constitutes an important aspect of economic activity and ignoring it may lead to incorrect inferences about levels and changes in well-being”.Volunteering, intergenerational solidarity, and mutual help and assistance are all favoured by family associations. In addition, the production of households is one of these kinds of “invisible work”, that contributes directly to social cohesion. Here, the OECD directly addresses the question of the inclusion of this invisible work in the evaluation of wealth of the society and the wellbeing of populations This question leads to others at the heart of an interrogation on social cohesion: are there any reasons to consider gratuitousness in economical terms? Is social cohesion measurable in economical terms? If so, which indicators should be integrated in the usual and existing measures of wellbeing and sustainable development in order to account for the richness of the factors that favour social cohesion? Should these indicators be stimulated and if so, how?

Registration before 10th October: www.fafce.org




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