As technology advances, automation will affect a growing number of European jobs. The conventional view is that education is the key to avoiding unemployment, falling wages and stagnation.

The middle class is not a homogeneous group. The segments within it respond differently to economic globalization, with the lower middle class heading towards the poorest. Although social protection schemes can go a long way to compensate for their income losses, there is an increasing divide within the middle class.

The much-debated squeeze of the middle class in Europe is real, but very different from country to country. The squeeze is felt most in the countries most affected by the financial crisis, like Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece, where austerity measures aimed at curtailing public debt have impacted tremendously on the living standards of the middle class. But, even in some of Europe’s most stable economies, the middle class is struggling, which may be one of the factors in the rise of radical, nationalist parties across the continent.

The middle classes in Europe are struggling to improve their living standards. As this dossier shows, the European middle classes are moving apart and cannot be helped by seeing them as a homogenous group. Some are still moving upwards, but many are not moving at all or are even falling downwards as they struggle to find jobs, get mortgages, and benefit from the welfare state.

Robots have long been part of the world around us, but soon there really will be no avoiding them – when they no longer only work for us, but also with us. How are we going to do that together?

Technology is likely to substantially reshape labour markets in the future, dramatically altering the kinds of skills that middle-class workers will need. As such, policymakers must act now.