How We Calculate These Numbers

The ILO unemployment rate — the headline figure most governments report — counts only people who are without work, actively searching, and available to start within two weeks. We treat this as a starting point, not the full picture. To estimate true labour market exclusion, we add: registered unemployment, working-age recipients of long-term disability and incapacity benefits (e.g. uføretrygd, WIA, sjukersättning, førtidspension), working-age recipients of means-tested social assistance, and — where national statistics allow — people on transitional or work-assessment benefits (e.g. AAP, WGA, activity compensation). We exclude retirees, students, and full-time carers unless national data specifically flags them as work-capable and benefit-dependent. Every underlying figure is drawn from the national statistics agency or labour and welfare administration named in each report's Sources section — never from InkludX's own estimates alone.

Our fiscal cost figures cover one thing: public cash benefits paid for disability and sickness. That means disability pensions and similar benefits, plus public sickness benefit. We take the figures from each country's own agency reports (Nav, Deutsche Rentenversicherung and BMAS, UWV, Statistics Denmark and Försäkringskassan) and use the same definition for every country so they can be compared. Sick pay that employers fund themselves is left out. GDP, working-age population (aged 15–64) and average exchange rates come from Eurostat. We don't include lost tax revenue, healthcare, social care or the cost of employment programmes, so the real cost to the state is higher than these figures show. Every figure is checked against its source before it is published.

Every InkludX Economics report cites named, publicly verifiable sources: peer-reviewed research, government statistics agencies, national audit offices, and randomised controlled trials where they exist. We name the specific study, agency, and year for every statistic — not just a general reference. Where evidence is contested or uncertain, we say so in the text rather than presenting a single number as settled fact. Reports are published in English first and translated into InkludX's other eight languages; the English version is the authoritative one if a translation is ever in doubt.