Did early-career complexity increase after labour market deregulation? Heterogeneity by gender and education across cohorts in Italy

This article considers the complexity of ea rly employment life-courses focusing on the heterogeneity by gender and education. We construct 7-year-long early employment trajectories by using a unique longitudinal da taset that combines administrative records on employment episodes and survey data from the Italian module of the EU-SILC. This enables the application of advanced method s in sequence analysis to calculate the complexity of employment trajectories following labour market entry. Complexity reflects the instability of early-careers by consid ering the number of transitions between employment states and the length of each epis ode. We compare several cohorts of Italian workers who entered the labo ur market between 1974 and 2001 in institutional contexts characterized by different levels of deregu lation. The results demonstrate that early-career complexity increased across cohorts, but mostly for medium and lower-educated individuals. This dynamic is particularly pr onounced for women, and complexity is the highest for recent cohorts, especially among those with less human capital

Individual and household in-work poverty in Europe: understanding the role of labor market characteristics

The article presents an analysis of the association between labor market characteristics related to female employment and the prevalence of in-work poverty. We compare two relative measures of in-work poverty: The individual definition refers to workers whose salary is below 60% of the median, while the household-level definition refers to individuals whose household income is below 60% of the median. Microdata from the 2014 EU-SILC survey and macrodata on involuntary part-time employment and female labor market participation are used to perform a multilevel analysis on 31 European countries. The results show a positive relationship between involuntary part-time work and in-work poverty according to the household definition. Female labor market participation is positively associated with the individual definition and negatively with the household one. However, after controlling for the level of within-country income inequality, only the effect of the female employment rate remains positive and significant for the individual in-work. These results shed light on the multifaceted role of labor market characteristics related to female employment and their implications for policy. We argue that the promotion of female participation should be combined with explicit measures to reduce the disadvantageous position of women in the labor market

Early-career complexity before and after labour-market deregulation in Italy: Heterogeneity by gender and socio-economic status across cohorts

Labour-market deregulation may have generated more unstable and complex employment life courses. As exposure to highly volatile early-career trajectories has long-lasting consequences for the working lives of individuals, it is especially important to consider how these processes have affected younger workers in countries like Italy. Here, deregulation ‘at the margins’ of the labour market has been characterized by a strong age divide and has exacerbated the separation between insiders and outsiders. We contrast the "individualization of risk" perspective with the "persistent inequality" hypothesis by looking at differentials by gender and socio-economic status in the degree of early-career complexity of workers who entered the labour market before and after deregulation. The use of an innovative longitudinal dataset (AD-SILC) which combines administrative records on employment episodes and survey data on individuals’ socio-economic characteristics allows this study to apply advanced methods in sequence analysis to calculate the complexity of seven-year-long early career trajectories. Complexity is measured by considering the number of transitions between employment states and the length of each episode. We find that early-career complexity increased across cohorts, especially for those more exposed to deregulation. Against the scenario of a generalized increase in labour market dualization, this non-linear dynamic especially affected medium and low-educated individuals and was particularly pronounced for women. Although our analytical strategy does not allow for a causal interpretation of mechanisms engendering the observed trends, this empirical evidence is highly relevant for the implication of changes in early career patterns across cohorts for stratification research

Early‑career complexity before and after labour‑market deregulation in Italy. Heterogeneity by gender and socio‑economic status across cohorts

Labour-market deregulation may have generated more unstable and complex employment life courses. As exposure to highly volatile early-career trajectories has long-lasting consequences for the working lives of individuals, it is especially important to consider how these processes have affected younger workers in countries like Italy. Here, deregulation ‘at the margins’ of the labour market has been characterized by a strong age divide and has exacerbated the separation between insiders and outsiders. We contrast the individualization of risk perspective with the persistent inequality hypothesis by looking at differentials by gender and socio-economic status in the degree of early-career complexity of workers who entered the labour market before and after deregulation. The use of an innovative longitudinal dataset (AD-SILC) which combines administrative records on employment episodes and survey data on individuals’ socio-economic characteristics allows this study to apply advanced methods in sequence analysis to calculate the complexity of 7-year-long early career trajectories. Complexity is measured by considering the number of transitions between employment states and the length of each episode. We find that early-career complexity increased across cohorts, especially for those more exposed to deregulation. Against the scenario of a generalized increase in labour market dualization, this non-linear dynamic especially affected medium and low-educated individuals and was particularly pronounced for women. Although our analytical strategy does not allow for a causal interpretation of mechanisms engendering the observed trends, this empirical evidence is highly relevant for the implication of changes in early career patterns across cohorts for stratification research

Who is really 'left behind'? Half a century of gender differences in the school-to-work transitions of low-educated youth

At a time of growing expectations about educational attainment, young people who did not complete upper-secondary schooling can easily be ‘left behind’ to face risks of social exclusion. Being able to make a rapid and successful transition into a first significant job is crucial for long-term labor-market attachment. We approach the question of continuity or change in school-to-work transitions by comparing the experiences of four birth cohorts of early school leavers in Italy, where they still constitute a sizeable group as of today. Italy makes for an interesting case study due to the length of school-to-work transitions and the extent of gender differences in this phase. In an era of educational expansion and increased female activation, studying changes in low-educated women’s labor-market access brings into focus the question of who is really left behind. Using data from the 2009 ‘Multi-purpose Survey on Household and Social Subjects,’ we use discrete time logistic regression models to estimate the probability of transitioning to the first significant job for early school leavers born between 1954 and 1993. We find that gender differences are strikingly persistent across birth cohorts, even after controlling for sociodemographic variables as well as for time-varying fertility and partnership histories

Is there only one way out of in-work poverty? Difference by gender and race in the US

The persistency of in-work poverty during the last de cades challenges the idea that employment is sufficient to escape poverty. Research has focused on the risk factors associated with in-work poverty, but scholars know little about individuals' experiences after exiting it. The Sequence Analysis Multistate Model procedure is applied to three high-quality longitudinal data sources (NLSY79, NLSY97, and PSID) to establish a typo logy of employment pathways out of in-work poverty and estimate how gender and race are associated with each pathway. We identify five distinct pathways characterized by varying degrees of labor market attachment, economic vulnerability, and volatility. White men are most likely exit in-work poverty into stable employment outside of poverty, while Black men and women likely remain vulnerable and at-risk of social exclusion as well as recurrent spells of in-work poverty. Gender and race differences persist even after controlling for labor market related characteristics and family demographic behavior

Research note: The persistent risk of in-work poverty following the birth of a first, second, and third child across the life course

Objective: The association between a first, second, and third childbirth and in-work poverty in the short- and medium-term were assessed across age groups in the US and Germany. Background: Previous research on in-work poverty has concentrated on structural and ascriptive characteristics, while family processes - especially childbirths - received less attention. This gap was filled by adopting a processual life course approach. Method: Longitudinal data from the US and Germany were applied to between-within random effects models to estimate within-individual change in the probability of in-work poverty up to six years following a first, second, and third childbirth across age groups. Results: First, second, and third birth were associated with an immediate increase in the probability of in-work poverty (up to 10 and 5 percentage points in the US and in Germany, respectively). Among US adults aged 30 and younger probabilities increased in the medium term (from 9 to 15 percentage points for a first, 6 to 15 for a second, and 9 to 18 for a third birth), but remained unchanged for older adults in the US and all adults in Germany. Conclusion: There was no recovery in risk of in-work poverty in the medium-term following childbirth in the US and Germany. Increasing the labor market participation of adult household members via more and low-cost childcare options remains crucial. However, higher levels of income support and child benefits may be needed to avoid poverty

Wealth in Couples: Introduction to the Special Issue

The assumption that economic resources are equally shared within households has been found to be untenable for income but is still often upheld for wealth. In this introduction to the special issue “Wealth in Couples”, we argue that within-household inequality in wealth is a pertinent and under-researched area that is ripe for development. To this end, we outline the relevance of wealth for demographic research, making the distinction between individual and household wealth. Drawing on a life-course perspective, we discuss individual wealth accumulation within couples and its links to family-demographic processes, the institutional context, and norms on pooling and sharing. We conclude with a brief summary of the main findings from the special issue and highlight implications for demographic research and for future research in this field.Peer Reviewe

Being Working Poor or Feeling Working Poor? The Role of Work Intensity and Job Stability for Subjective Poverty

Low work intensity and high job instability are crucial micro-determinants of in-work poverty. Importantly, they might also affect subjective poverty in households that are above the poverty threshold. We contribute to the literature by studying the relationship between subjective and objective in-work poverty and how this relationship is affected by household members' job characteristics. We use data from the 2014 wave of the Italian module of the EU-SILC survey. Italy is an interesting case as - similarly to other Southern European countries - the share of individuals and households reporting subjective hardship is strikingly high compared to the levels reported in other EU areas. We find no statistically significant differences in the association between subjective poverty and different degrees of objective poverty by different levels of work intensity. Conversely, subjective poverty is positively associated with the instability of household members' job contracts. We argue that policies aimed at increasing work intensity rather than work stability might not help to reduce subjective poverty as well as its (negative) spillover effects on other life domains - such as well-being, adequate levels of consumption, and social integration

Tempi difficili: Le condizioni occupazionali degli early school leavers in Italia prima e dopo la crisi

The article investigates the employment conditions of young early school leavers in Italy in the aftermath of the economic crisis, a period which was marked by a process of occupational downgrading. The empirical analyses rely on the 2005 and 2014 waves of the ISFOL-PLUS survey and show that the employment opportunities of youth who dropped out of school have substantially deteriorated over time, both in absolute terms and compared to those who attained an upper-secondary level certificate. The article discusses possible determinants of this negative trend: on the one hand, the increased negative selection of the group of early school leavers; on the other hand, the process of "crowding out" of workers with intermediate qualification levels from well-matching jobs. The results also show considerable gender differences and in particular the existence of a multiplicative disadvantage for female early school leavers, especially in Southern Italy