The Economics of Inclusion
Fiscal analysis, policy research, and expert perspectives on the economic case for work inclusion.
Research Segments
Labour Exclusion
True labour market exclusion across Europe — beyond the headline unemployment rate
Fiscal Cost of Exclusion
The direct fiscal burden of keeping people outside the labour market — benefit expenditure, lost tax revenue, and the structural cost to public finances across Europe.
European Union
Proof It Works
Real organisations already doing this — the employers and public programmes behind the numbers.
The world's largest autistic-majority company started in Oslo
79% of 552 staff are autistic · 266 client companies in 2023
Learn moreSweden's biggest employer built entirely around disabled workers
24,000+ employees — all with disabilities · Operating since 1980
Learn more107,000 people in paid work — thanks to a Danish wage subsidy
107,000 people in Fleksjob · Record high in 2023
Learn moreMercedes-Benz employs nearly 9,000 people with disabilities across its group companies
~9,000 employees with disabilities · 100+ trainees with disabilities over 5 years
Learn moreThe tech company that decided the interview was the real problem
215+ autistic employees · Program active in 16 countries
Learn moreNorway's largest business confederation ran an inclusion programme with an 80% job-offer rate
80% of internship participants offered a job · covers 22,000+ NHO member companies
Learn moreA 750-member Dutch employer network making inclusive hiring the new normal since 2016
750+ member employers · operating since 2016 · spans SMEs to large corporates
Learn moreIKEA turns refugee employment into a global model
3,700+ refugees supported · 70% went on to find employment
Learn moreShe asked 500 CEOs to stop hiding disability from the boardroom. They said yes.
500 global companies committed · $23 trillion combined market cap · 20 million employees covered
Learn morePoland's national fund subsidises wages for 240,000 disabled workers at open-market employers
240,000+ workers with disabilities on wage subsidy · 30,000+ contributing employers
Learn moreAll pieces
Read full report →Ageing Workforce and Disability Inclusion: An Economic Imperative
OECD analysis of how rising workforce disability rates from ageing populations make inclusion not optional but structurally necessary for EU labour force sufficiency and pension sustainability.
The Disability Employment Gap in the EU: Causes and Remedies
European Commission analysis of the 24 percentage-point employment gap between disabled and non-disabled workers across EU-27, with evidence-based policy recommendations.
Mental Health and Work Inclusion in the EU Labour Market
OECD-EU joint report on the labour market participation challenges and economic costs of poor mental health, with employer and policy levers for improvement.
Voices & Authors
View all voices →Politicians, economists, advocates, and authors shaping the economics of work inclusion
Angelina Atanasova
Research Officer, Working Life Unit
Eurofound (EU Agency), Brussels
The leading EU-institution-based researcher publishing specifically on the disability employment gap. Calculated the EU disability employment gap at 21.4 percentage points in 2022 (ranging from 8.5pp in Luxembourg to 37pp in Ireland). Produces the primary EU-level statistics used in policy.
Anne Skevik Grødem
Research Professor
NOVA / OsloMet
Led the 2025 government-commissioned review of Norway's health-related benefits (helserelaterte ytelser) — directly at the heart of the uføretrygd debate. Research spans pensions, welfare sustainability, and benefit reform. Arguably the most policy-proximate Norwegian researcher on this topic right now.
Bernd Fitzenberger
Director
IAB — Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Nuremberg
Director of Germany's most authoritative labour market research institute since 2019. Publishes regularly on ALMP evaluation, labour market transformation, and Germany's growing inactivity challenge amid acute labour shortages. IAB is the research arm of the Bundesagentur für Arbeit — its findings directly shape German employment policy.
Catherine Naughton
Director
European Disability Forum (EDF), Brussels
The most senior advocacy voice for disability rights at EU level. Economics graduate with prior career as Head of Unit in DG EMPL and Cabinet Expert to Commissioner Schmit. Brings rare economic policy expertise to disability advocacy — engaging directly with Commissioners in their own language. Led EDF's open letter campaigns to Commissioner Lahbib on the Disability Employment Package.
Ed Miliband
Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
UK Government / Labour Party
Cabinet-level Labour voice on economic justice and social inclusion. Raised internal concerns in spring 2025 about the pace and scale of disability welfare cuts — positioning him as a senior counterweight voice within the UK government's fiscal-versus-rights debate on disability.
Editorial content — not peer reviewed
Frances Ryan
Journalist, Author, Disability Columnist
The Guardian (UK)
The UK's most prominent journalist covering disability economics and austerity. Author of 'Crippled: Austerity and the Demonisation of Disabled People' (Verso, 2019) — the definitive long-form account of how welfare and employment policy intersects with disabled people's economic lives. Won the Society of Editors Media Freedom Award 2024.
Editorial content — not peer reviewed
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