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

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

Youth transitions and job quality: How long should they wait and what difference does the family make?

This chapter explores how youth unemployment, discontinuous employment, and working in low-quality jobs affect individuals’ subsequent occupational conditions. Using cross-sectional and longitudinal EU-SILC data (2005–2012) for five countries, the chapter distinguishes between different types of good and bad jobs, examining the effect of family background on successful transitions. Findings show that young people from families of higher social class have better chances of making transitions into good-quality jobs than do youth from lower class families. Securing a good entry job is crucial to achieving a successful outcome, whereas experiencing either brief periods of unemployment or employment continuity has limited effects. These mechanisms are evident across all countries considered. The findings reinforce established knowledge on patterns of stratification, evidencing a direct channel of social transmission of inequalities through education and an indirect channel through better labor market entries