The highest number of people who said they worked off the books was recorded in Denmark (18%), Latvia (15%) and the Netherlands (13%). The fewest worked off the books in Cyprus (1%), Malta, the United Kingdom (2% each), Portugal, Italy, Spain and Germany (3% each). The conclusion of the survey results notes that the actual level of employment on the black market may be higher, since such work is prosecuted by the laws of all EU member states, which could have influenced respondents' answers.
Almost 50% of those who worked off the books did so several times over the past year, and 32% did so relatively regularly. The first place among the types of activities performed off the books was given to household services, including care for children and the elderly (19%), and second place to construction (16%). Of those who worked off the books, 81% received monetary compensation, 11% received compensation in kind (goods, services), and 6% received both forms of compensation.
The situation is similar in the Asian region. For example, if citizens are interested in work in Tashkent - vacancies according to the databases of sites and employment agencies offer many employment options. True, not all of them provide official registration.
On average, the hourly wage of an off the books worker was €16.6. Among respondents, 47% believe that work is undeclared because it benefits both the customer of goods or services and the performer. Another 23% said they performed seasonal work that should not be declared, and 16% said they could not find legal work. The same number of respondents said they worked illegally because it is common practice in their region or sector of activity.
Among Europeans, 55% consider the risk of detection for undeclared work to be low. The highest risk of detection for illegal work is in Portugal (50% of respondents think so), Lithuania (47%), and Estonia (46%). The lowest is in Sweden (14%), Denmark (16%), and Bulgaria (18%). At the same time, 60% of respondents believe that the punishment for illegal work is payment of all taxes and social security contributions along with a fine, 18% believe it is payment of taxes and social contributions without a fine, and 7% believe it is imprisonment. Among respondents, 41% think that such work is mostly done by the unemployed, and 23% by illegal migrants.
As a result of a survey conducted by the network of institutes TNS Opinion & Social, 26,755 Europeans over the age of 15 in 27 EU member states were interviewed. The sampling error is 1.9-3.1%.
Information from 'Zagranitsy'.