CV and DOI
PDF document
Information and Communication
Mary McCaughey
Mary McCaughey is Head of Information and Communication in Eurofound. A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and the College of Europe, Bruges, she started work in Brussels with Europolitics and the Wall Street Journal Europe. She worked with the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) in South Africa during the country’s transition to democracy, and in 1998 she took up the post of spokesperson with the Delegation of the European Union in Pretoria, heading up its press and information department during the negotiation of the EU–South Africa free trade agreement. Following the end of the Kosovo War, she worked as a communications consultant for the European Agency for Reconstruction in Serbia. She took up the post of Editor-in-Chief in Eurofound in 2003.
Research outputs
Mary is the author of the following publications.
Events, commentary and analysis
Mary has contributed the following events, blog posts and podcast episodes.
6 November 2025
Blog post
New
The European social model: Key to competitive growth?
As Europe faces mounting global challenges, its distinctive social framework may hold the answer to achieving both economic competitiveness and social cohesion.
17 October 2025
Podcast episode
Grappling with Europe's wealth gap
This episode of Eurofound Talks, published on International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2025, looks in-depth at Europe’s wealth divide. Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound researchers Carlos Vacas and Eszter Sandor about how wealth inequality remains as intractable as ever – despite positive developments in recent years on wages and improvements in general working conditions.
10 September 2025
Podcast episode
Is Europe’s mental health still in crisis?
Mental health in Europe is at a critical crossroads. While some indicators have improved since the pandemic, a new Eurofound report reveals concerning trends, including an alarming halt to the decades-long decline in suicide rates. In this episode of Eurofound Talks, Mary McCaughey speaks with senior research manager Hans Dubois about this complex issue, highlighting that poor mental health is disproportionately affecting vulnerable groups.
5 September 2025
Online event
Watch the webinar - AskTheExpert: Beyond the data - Uncovering persistent inequalities in European working conditions
Eurofound is organising an interactive webinar looking at the first findings of its European Working Conditions Survey 2024, with a live Q&A. Date: 24 September 2025. Time: 15:00 – 16: 00 Irish time (16:00 - 17:00 Central European Time).
30 June 2025
Podcast episode
The evolution of working conditions in Europe
This episode examines the evolving landscape of European working conditions, situated at the nexus of profound technological transformation.Mary McCaughey speaks with Barbara Gerstenberger, Eurofound's Head of Unit for Working Life, who leverages insights from the 35-year history of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS). This survey series offers a granular perspective on the longitudinal shifts in European labour.The discussion assesses how artificial intelligence and digitalisation are reshaping employment, drawing parallels with historical industrial shifts, while acknowledging the continuous adaptive capacity of the world of work.
1 May 2025
Podcast episode
How are minimum wage levels changing in Europe?
In this episode Mary McCaughey sits down with Eurofound expert Carlos Vacas Soriano to explore how minimum wages have changed in Europe over the past year, as well as the implications of these shifts.Listeners are invited to dive into the intricacies of Europe's minimum wage dynamics and the factors driving these changes. The conversation also sheds light on the broader implications of minimum wage change for income inequalities and gender equality.
10 April 2025
Podcast episode
How can Europe adapt to an ageing workforce?
How can Europe adapt to an ageing workforce? What impediments do older workers face at the workplace? How are changing technologies and job quality influencing the retention of older workers on the labour market?This episode sets out to answer these questions in the context of changing demographics in Europe and the need to make work more sustainable.
7 March 2025
Podcast episode
What is the future for gender equality in Europe?
This special episode of Eurofound Talks, recorded for International Women’s Day 2025, looks at women’s progress in the labour market and society over the past five decades, as well as sticking points on the path to gender equality in Europe, particularly related to the gender employment and pay gaps. Eurofound Head of Unit for Information and Communication Mary McCaughey speaks with Maria Jepsen, Eurofound Deputy Director, and Carlien Scheele, Director of the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE).
28 February 2025
Podcast episode
Is Europe's teleworking experiment coming to an end?
This episode of Eurofound Talks looks at data from the Living and working in the EU e-survey showing a decline in the number of respondents engaged in remote work, with the percentage of people working entirely from the workplace increasing from 36% in 2023, to 41% in 2024.
30 January 2025
Podcast episode
50 years of social change in Ireland and Europe
In this episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Deputy Director Maria Jepsen, and Barry Colfer, Director of Research at the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), about European social change over the past 50 years, Eurofound’s role in these changes, how Ireland itself has developed and changed, and the challenges currently on the horizon.
14 January 2025
Hybrid event
Foundation Forum 2025: Europe’s social model – the key to competitive growth
On 19–20 November 2025, Eurofound is organising its 8th Foundation Forum at IMMA Venues. It is the agency’s quadrennial high-level flagship event which has been running for the past 20 years and is organised in cooperation with the Irish Government.
18 December 2024
Podcast episode
How can we effectively tackle cyberbullying at work?
Over the last decade, information and communication technologies have changed the way employees work and communicate with each other. While the digitalisation of work offers many benefits, widespread access to digital devices in working life has provided fertile ground for the emergence of new forms of antisocial behaviours, including workplace cyberbullying.In this episode of Eurofound Talks, Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Senior Research Manager Sara Riso about what constitutes cyberbullying, how widespread the issue of cyberbullying at work is, and whether there is sufficient legislation and workplace rules to address it effectively.They discuss how bullying and cyberbullying have emerged as prominent issues in national policy debates, primarily as problems affecting young people rather than as a more general phenomenon in the workplace and detrimental to workers’ well-being.Whether online or face to face – it would seem that bullying at work is more prevalent than commonly acknowledged.
18 December 2024
Blog post
Migration and mobility unpacked
Migration is a multifaceted and emotive phenomenon and, due to its complexity, also often a subject prone to misinformation. Moreover, it can be the target of disinformation. What is the reality?
13 November 2024
Podcast episode
Can the EU help turn the tide on housing in Europe?
In her political guidelines for the incoming European Commission, issued in July, the returning president, Ursula von der Leyen, outlined ambitious proposals for the next five-year European term. They included the appointment of the first commission member whose responsibilities would include housing, as well as the first-ever European Affordable Housing Plan.In this episode of Eurofound Talks Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Senior Research Manager Hans Dubois about the latest developments in housing and housing policy in Europe. This, the second episode of the series looking specifically at housing, discusses the role of the incoming Commission, what Eurofound’s research can bring to the table, and the different policy tools required.
16 October 2024
Podcast episode
Is climate change making work more dangerous in Europe?
Climate change is a reality in our everyday lives in Europe. Workers experience the effects of climate change and climate change policy in many ways, both directly and indirectly, from working in heat and experiencing greater exposure to UV radiation, to new occupational safety and health risks and the need for training and re-skilling.In this episode of Eurofound Talks Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound researchers Agnès Parent-Thirion, Tina Weber and Jorge Cabrita about the extent to which climate change is already influencing working conditions and the labour market in Europe, the role of the green transition, and how policy can help protect workers and safeguard workplaces.
30 September 2024
Podcast episode
Is Europe’s middle class disappearing?
Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Research Manager Carlos Vacas about the situation of the middle class in Europe. They look at developments over the past two decades, the significance of income adequacy and equality in the development of a robust middle class in Europe, the influence of the welfare state, as well as the understated role of the family.
25 June 2024
Podcast episode
Has Europe failed its youth?
In this episode of Eurofound Talks, Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound researchers Eszter Sandor and Massimiliano Mascherini about the situation for young people in Europe, from the impacts of the economic crisis and Great Recession to the aftermath COVID-19 pandemic and voting trends in the recent European Parliament elections.They discuss how, while there have been some positive trends in employment in recent years, there are concerning issues facing young people in Europe that need to be overcome – not just for the young people in question, but also for broader economic and societal stability.
14 May 2024
Podcast episode
Shaping the future of European democracy
In a special edition of Eurofound Talks, Mary McCaughey is joined by Eurofound Executive Director Ivailo Kalfin and Ivan Krastev, Chairman of the Centre for Liberal Strategies and permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, to look at the political, social and economic drivers in Europe and how they might influence voters at the ballot box in the European Parliament elections on 6-9 June 2024.
2 May 2024
Blog post
Inequalities unmasked: Reality of disparities across the EU
Part of the blog series: '10 reasons to Use Your Vote'
1 May 2024
Podcast episode
Can Europe deliver for its children?
In this episode of Eurofound Talks Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Research Manager Daniel Molinuevo about the European Child Guarantee, how bad the situation is with regard to child poverty and social exclusion in Europe, what Member States have committed to doing about it, what the implications are for workers and civil society, and what prospects there are for the future.Fighting child poverty has become a central dimension of EU social policy. One of the European Commission’s flagship social policy initiatives is the European Child Guarantee: established in 2021 by Council Recommendation, the aim of the Guarantee is to tackle child poverty by ensuring access to key services (such as healthcare) and resources (such as decent housing) for children in need – defined as children at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
14 April 2024
Podcast episode
Is it a right to disconnect?
In this episode of Eurofound Talks Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Research Manager Tina Weber about new research on the right to disconnect, the evolution of the right to disconnect in Europe, the reasons why legislative and procedural actions are being called for, the impacts that effective right to disconnect policies can have, and what the debate indicates about the post-pandemic world of work.The COVID-19 pandemic had multiple impacts on society, but perhaps one of the most enduring in terms of the world of work has been the proliferation of telework. Around one-third of jobs in the EU are teleworkable, and an estimated 40 million people telework on a regular basis. While most workers who can telework have embraced it, there have been notable impacts on work-life balance, stress and other psychological risks. This has given rise to calls for a right to disconnect.
4 March 2024
Podcast episode
Tackling the gender pay and employment gaps
In this special episode of Eurofound Talks for International Women's Day 2024, Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound researchers Carlos Vacas and Barbara Gerstenberger about the gender pay and employment gaps in Europe.Despite gender equality being a core principle of the EU, women are less likely to be in employment than men in all EU Member States and are paid less than men in almost every Member State, with the pay gap larger in higher paying jobs. Mary, Carlos, and Barbara discuss what progress has been made on these issues in recent years, the broader consequences of gender inequalities in the world of work, and the challenges that must be addressed if Europe is to meet gender equality targets.
10 January 2024
Podcast episode
Are minimum wages in Europe adequate and effective?
The latest episode of Eurofound Talks, recorded shortly before Eurofound publishes its harmonised analysis of 2024 minimum wage developments, looks at the changes to minimum wages in 2023. Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound experts Christine Aumayr-Pintar and Carlos Vacas-Soriano about the adequacy of minimum wages in Europe as they stand at the moment, how the EU has sought to improve the situation of low-wage earners through a Directive on adequate minimum wages, and how widespread the issue of minimum wage non-compliance is in the European Union.
22 November 2023
Podcast episode
How will Europe’s green transition impact employment?
Climate change objectives and decarbonisation measures are vital for the future of Europe. But how will these objectives impact employment and the labour market? In this episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast series, Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Senior Research Manager John Hurley about new research which shows a marginal increase in net employment from EU decarbonisation measures, but also potentially broad shifts in the labour market that could have a profound impact in several areas.
24 October 2023
Podcast episode
How did Europe treat its essential workers?
In this episode of Eurofound Talks Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Research Manager Jorge Cabrita about new research that highlights poor job quality - including high emotional demands, working at high speed and to tight deadlines - among several of the sectors and professions deemed essential, key or critical during the COVID-19 pandemic.
19 September 2023
Podcast episode
Does Europe have the skills it needs for a changing economy?
In this episode of Eurofound Talks Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Research Manager Tina Weber, Eurofound Senior Research Manager Gijs van Houten, and Giovanni Russo, Senior Expert at CEDEFOP, about Europe’s skills challenges and what can be done to help workers and businesses adapt to future skills demands.
15 June 2023
Podcast episode
Housing
In this episode Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Senior Research Manager Hans Dubois on the issues that feed into housing insecurity in Europe, and the actions that need to be taken to address them. Together, they analyse findings from Eurofound’s recent Unaffordable and inadequate housing in Europe report, which presents data from Eurofound’s Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey, European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions and input from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents on various indicators of housing security and living conditions.
8 March 2023
Podcast episode
The work-life challenges of women and men
In this episode of Eurofound Talks, recorded for International Women's Day 2023, Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Working Life researchers Jorge Cabrita and Viginta Ivaškaitė-Tamošiūnė about how, when paid and unpaid work are combined, women do eight full-time weeks more work than men per year, and the broader implications of this for society. They also discuss how indicators of work-life balance and work-life conflict differ for women and men, as well as the policy action that can be taken to improve gender equality in Europe.
8 March 2023
Blog post
No one left behind? Gender segregation in the workplace sees women losing out
'Women belong in all the places where decisions are made', to borrow from the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg. These decisions are made everywhere and at every level: in the home and at the workplace; in the boardroom and on the shop floor. Which is why it is of such serious concern to see the ongoing deep-rooted gender segregation across Europe, in employment, of course, but more specifically in sectors, in occupations and in roles and responsibilities. On International Women’s Day we tend to take stock of progress for women in all areas, and there had certainly been much progress in Europe in the years prior to the COVID-19 crisis. For instance, employment rates of women had increased, and yet more women than men lost their jobs at the beginning of the pandemic.
8 February 2023
Podcast episode
Job quality
The COVID-19 pandemic had profound implications on the labour market and job quality in Europe, with some workers, particularly those providing frontline services, continuing to work from the workplace under heavy restrictions, while others worked from home also in radically different environments from which they were accustomed. Eurofound has been closely monitoring working conditions in Europe for over 30 years via the European Working Conditions Survey; in 2021, the Agency conducted the European Working Conditions Telephone Survey (EWCTS), providing a detailed picture of the working lives of Europeans at an exceptional time. In this episode of Eurofound Talks, Eurofound Head of Unit for Working Life Barbara Gerstenberger discusses what the EWCTS reveals about job quality, the implications of poor-quality jobs on well-being and broader society, and what policymakers can do to improve the working lives of people in Europe.
14 December 2022
Blog post
Citizens need clarity on Europe’s challenges
A cocktail of insecurity, misinformation and mistrust imperil Europe’s future. Reliable, accessible data are at a premium.
2 December 2022
Podcast episode
Telework
Now that Europe moves beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, it is faced with a dilemma. Telework has worked well for many over the past few years, helped them reconcile work and family life, and brought greater autonomy and flexibility; but for others almost the opposite has been the case, with greater work intensification, longer working hours, and greater exposure to psychosocial risks. Is it time to get back to the office? Is telework here to stay? Is hybrid work the solution? In this episode of Eurofound Talks Oscar Vargas and Mary McCaughey use results from the Living, working and COVID-19 online surveys, the European Working Conditions Telephone Survey, and other analyses from Eurofound to investigate what the future holds for telework in Europe, whether the mass rollout of telework has been to the benefit of workers and businesses, and whether the teleworkability of jobs will become the key issue on the labour market in years to come.
24 October 2022
Podcast episode
Care
This episode of Eurofound Talks looks at care: care for children, care for older people, care for those who are frail or with disabilities, access to care, the quality of care, and the working conditions of care workers. Mary McCaughey speaks with Senior Research Manager Hans Dubois about how care policy has received more attention post-pandemic in the context of the European Commission’s new European Care Strategy on quality, affordable and accessible care services across the EU, as well as the European Parliament’s resolution Towards a common European action on care. They also discuss the impact of care on related areas such as gender equality, Europe's long-term economic development, and ensuring greater social cohesion.
23 September 2022
Podcast episode
Platform work
In this episode of Eurofound Talks Mary McCaughey speaks with researcher Dragoș Adăscăliței about how platform work has developed over the past two decades, the profile of platform workers in Europe, how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the development of platform work, the opportunities and risks platform work presents for workers, and how to protect platform workers while preserving the opportunities and benefits that are generated by the platform economy.
11 July 2022
Podcast episode
Living in a new era of uncertainty
The worst of the COVID-19 pandemic may have passed, but in households across Europe its effects linger longer. Add today’s cost of living crisis, rising inflation and the war in Ukraine to the detrimental impacts of COVID-19 and a distressing picture emerges: of mental health issues – especially among young people – of job loss and job insecurity, and of persistent uncertainty about the future. In this episode of Eurofound Talks, we speak with Daphne Ahrendt, expert on Eurofound’s unique Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey, on these very issues. As Daphne explains, the latest round of the survey reveals many insights that could help policymakers respond to the extraordinary circumstances of day-to-day living and working in Europe.
9 June 2022
Podcast episode
Minimum wages
Minimum wages and minimum wage setting processes are not just issues of high political importance in Europe, but also everyday concerns for low-wage earners throughout the EU. In this episode of Eurofound Talks we speak with Senior Research Manager Christine Aumayr-Pintar on the importance of minimum wages in the EU, different processes in place, the latest EU developments in ensuring adequate minimum wages, and the growing issue of inflation for low-wage earners.
9 May 2022
Podcast episode
Living and working in Europe: Past, present and future
This podcast focuses on our annual update on the state of ‘Living and working in Europe’. It highlights trends and changes – both positive and negative – in the way citizens across the EU work today, and serves as a guide to policymakers at EU and Member State level. Our experts detail these with useful examples and insights which might also help face into the challenges raised by the most recent results from Eurofound’s unique pan-European Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey.
29 March 2022
Podcast episode
Social Europe more urgent than ever, with Nicolas Schmit
During his visit to Dublin, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit talks about using the European Pillar of Social Rights to make Europe a better, fairer, greener and more digital place to live and work. War had just commenced in Ukraine but we were hopeful of a solution. In the intervening period, however, things have deteriorated across a range of areas as revealed by the most recent results from Eurofound’s unique pan-European Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey.
7 March 2022
Podcast episode
Gender equality
Women were just beginning to see the fruits of progress in gender equality over many years when the Great Recession hit, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the most recent results from Eurofound’s unique pan-European Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey reveal women again among the top losers as a result. This podcast, launched on International Women’s Day this year in conjunction with the European Institute for Gender Equality, debates issues related to closing the gender gaps across pay, employment and caring, and explores innovative options to promote change.
16 December 2021
Podcast episode
The impact of COVID-19 on young people in the EU
New day, new data highlighting the devastating impact of COVID-19 on young people across the European Union – most recently Eurofound’s unique pan-European Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey. We know this has taken an unprecedented toll on young people particularly – their mental well-being, their independence and more broadly, inter-generational solidarity as a whole. This podcast drills down to what it means to be a young person in Europe today, their lives, work, opportunities and challenges in the European Year of Youth.
8 December 2021
Podcast episode
The future of living and working in Europe
If you ever wondered what it means to be European today, to live and work in Europe, across 27 countries, young and old, urban, rural, rich and poor, this is the podcast for you. Most recent results from Eurofound’s unique pan-European Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey reveal ongoing challenges for Europeans as they seek to move out of the shadow of the pandemic while facing into the impact of the war in Ukraine. This podcast looks at how these challenges will shape the future of Europe.
1 December 2021
Podcast episode
Sustainable work
Never before have we had so much discussion about the way we work, the future of work and how this will impact our lives and those of the next generation. COVID-19 turned everything upside down as we have seen from the results of our unique pan-European Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey and we are still striving to make sense of the new hybrid, blended work experience. Will this in fact mean we can finally work longer and better while still maintaining a good quality of life? This podcast takes a deep dive into the opportunities and challenges associated with what we call ‘sustainable work’.
5 June 2017
Blog post
Europe en marche?
Average unemployment rates continue to fall across Europe, employment is growing again in middle-paying jobs, offshoring is on the decline, the proportion of routine jobs is falling, and efforts to make work more sustainable have borne fruit.
Other members of the Information and Communication unit
Find more staff members of the Information and Communication unit below.
Cristina Arigho
Senior Communication ManagerInformation and Communication
Cristina Arigho is Senior Communications Manager and Stakeholder engagement and Promotions Lead in the Information and Communication unit at Eurofound, having joined the Agency in 2012. Previously, she spent almost 20 years in Brussels working in various roles, many of them at the European Commission, including as spokesperson for DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (2010–2012) and for DG Budget (2007–2009). Before joining the Commission’s spokesperson’s service, she was press officer at DG Employment (2005–2007) and speech writer for the Commissioner and Director General at the time (2003–2005). Prior to her years at the Commission, she worked for RTÉ radio and television (Irish national television) in Brussels as a production assistant and researcher, and later as news producer. Cristina is a graduate in Applied Languages from the University of Ulster at Coleraine, Northern Ireland.
Francesca Bellante
Digital Communication OfficerInformation and Communication
No additional information available.
Thomas Farrell
Digital Data ManagerInformation and Communication
No additional information available.
Martin Flynn
Typeset & Design OfficerInformation and Communication
No additional information available.
Lenka Fonioková
Communication AssistantInformation and Communication
No additional information available.
James Higgins
Communication OfficerInformation and Communication
James Higgins is the press and media liaison person at Eurofound. He is also responsible for the Eurofound Talks podcast series.
Mary Kelly
IC Budget and Administration CoordinatorInformation and Communication
No additional information available.
Mans Martensson
Senior Communication ManagerInformation and Communication
Måns Mårtensson is a Senior Communication Manager in the Information and Communication unit. He manages Eurofound’s customer relationship management strategy, brand guidelines and corporate visual identity, as well as related strategic projects to improve communicating research findings to policymakers. Måns started working at Eurofound in 2001, following almost 10 years in European Affairs in Brussels as a correspondent for several Swedish media and as the first press officer at the Committee of the Regions. Måns has a BA in Journalism and International Relations from Vesalius College/Boston University.
Ian McCafferty
Publishing & Production ManagerInformation and Communication
No additional information available.
Aidan McKeown
Editorial Production CoordinatorInformation and Communication
No additional information available.
Matthias Rasche
WebmasterInformation and Communication
No additional information available.
Tatiana Sorohan
Temporary events and social media assistantInformation and Communication
No additional information available.
Bernice Turner
Communication OfficerInformation and Communication
No additional information available.
Tina Weadick
Temporary editorInformation and Communication
No additional information available.
Documents
The following documents are available for download.
