The new Horizon 2020-financed project – a follow-up to the successful InGRID project – plans for several EUROMOD developments, including a EUROMOD wealth module based on the integration of Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) data into the model’s existing input data. The aim of the task is to integrate into EUROMOD both wealth data and related policies for a selection of Euro area countries included in the HFCS. Additionally, there are plans to extend the current scope of EUROMOD’s Hypothetical Household Tool (HHoT) via adjustments to the tool’s input data in order to include policies that have previously been difficult or impossible to simulate using cross-sectional EU-SILC data. These policies include unemployment benefits, maternity/paternity/parental benefits and housing-related benefits. Both these tasks will continue the successful collaboration between Essex and CSB Antwerp undertaken as part of the first InGRID project.

InGRID-2 will also see a range of other EUROMOD-related activity. Notably, EUROMOD (not merely the HHoT tool) will be extended to cover maternity, paternity and other parental benefits and HHoT functionality will be improved, particularly in terms of its user-defined analytical outputs, tables and graphics. As per the first InGRID project, there will also be financial support provided for attendees at EUROMOD training courses.

InGRID-2 was launched at a kick-off meeting in Leuven on 1-2 June 2017. The project represents both the continuation and enlargement of the existing InGRID research infrastructure, involving a consortium of 19 European partners. Its aim is to facilitate European social sciences research that is focused on social in- and exclusion, vulnerability at work and related social and labour market policies from a comparative perspective. The project has a total budget of almost EUR 10m and is coordinated by HIVA (KU Leuven).