The next CIES research workshop will take place on September 22, 2025, between 12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m., in room A202 of Building 4 (Iscte-Knowledge and Innovation). This initiative is part of the Inequalities, Work, and Social Welfare Research Group.

TEAMS
https://bit.ly/WorkshopCIES_Set 

PRESENTATION

João Pedro Pereira
CIES PhD Fellow

COMMENTARY
Alexandre Calado
Integrated Researcher

ABSTRACT

Post-industrial societies face a diverse set of challenges, including an aging population, the spread of atypical forms of employment, and the relocation of production and employment to other parts of the globe. Meanwhile, another social risk/challenge has emerged in connection with developments in areas such as artificial intelligence and robotics: the threat of technological unemployment. Although various projections on this phenomenon are being published by a wide range of entities (foundations, think tanks, universities, etc.), these should be viewed critically and their contingent nature taken into account.
Nevertheless, such risks should not be ignored, and welfare states must not only address existing coverage gaps but also be prepared to respond adequately to the insecurities that may arise, to a greater or lesser extent, in the future. In this paper, we analyze three public policy proposals that may represent possible responses by welfare states to the social risks and challenges listed here: Categorical Basic Income, Participation Income, and Guaranteed Employment.

The research presented here is divided into two parts: in the first part, a comparative analysis of the different policies is carried out using a comparative table with five distinct dimensions; in the second part, some of the preliminary results of a set of semi-structured interviews (which also address the challenges of accessing interviewees, the adjustments made to the initial plan, and the method used to survey these people about the policies under study), conducted with workers from various sectors of activity who may be impacted by the automation of production processes, regarding their vision of the future of work, the welfare state, and the social protection policies under study. The aim is to contribute to a more plural and in-depth debate on the above issues, whose impact on the lives of thousands of workers should not be overlooked.