The changes registered in economy, markets, Welfare State and in labor law have had profound consequences for the labor market. One of the most significant consequences of these changes has been the increase in precarious labor. This is a product of the changes in the process for contracting workers, by changing the general rule of an indefinite term contract between an employee and an employer in favor of a multitude of atypical contracting possibilities of a formal or informal nature. This includes fixed-term contracts, part-time contracts not desired by the worker (underemployment), outsourcing of contractual responsibilities (outsourcing), false provision of services (“green receipt”), internships with or without pay, training grant contracts of various kinds, day contracting, or even the provision of work without any written or verbal contract. As a result of these atypical hiring processes, precarious workers find themselves denied, either partially or in total, of the rights and benefits available through regular hiring mechanisms, such as: vacation and 13th month allowances, social security benefits, unemployment, sickness, and paternity benefits, etc. (Vosko 2010). Here, precariousness represents a serious limit to the experience of full citizenship.
It is often stated that precariousness affects mainly the youngest and less experienced workers when entering the labor market and that the situation will solve itself after a few years of working. What research has demonstrated (Alves et al. 2011) is that precariousness not only affects workers in all age groups, but tends to persist over time, sometimes alternating with situations of unemployment, attending training courses, etc.
Precariousness has a profound impact on the lives of individuals and families. At the individual level, in addition to the limitations it causes in the autonomy and financial security of the individuals, it also has a profound impact on their self-worth, subjective well-being, and ability to plan the present and the future (Carmo et al 2014). However, the consequences of precariousness also extend longitudinally, with bi-linked and extra-linked impacts on the closest family members, effects that we will seek to observe, register, and analyze throughout this project.
References:
Alves, Nuno de Almeida, Renato Miguel do Carmo, Frederico Cantante e Inês Baptista (2011), Jovens em Transições Precárias: Trabalho, Quotidiano e Futuro, Lisboa, Mundos Sociais.
Carmo, Renato Miguel do Carmo, Frederico Cantante e Nuno de Almeida Alves (2014), “Time Projections: Youth and Precarious Employment”, Time & Society 23(3): 337-357.
Vosko, Leah F. (2010), Managing the Margins. Gender, Citizenship and the International Regulation of Precarious Employment, Oxford, Oxford University Press.