The transformations of work in Europe:

flexibility and social regulation

Enzo Mingione

University of Milan-Bicocca

Rethymno, Crete5-7– June 2008

Employment and Unemployment in Europe

Trends of change

Decline of breadwinner jobs

Growth of women employment

Increase of flexible jobs

Unemployment trends:post-industrial transformation pushed up Un., which stabilized between 5 and 10%.Structural growth of Un.’s eterogeinity and instability. Unemployment rates

Fonte: Oecd Factbook 2007

0

5

10

15

20

25

France Germany Italy Spain Sweden United Kingdom

Decrease of breadwinner employment’s chances Decrease of employment in manifacturing

sector (“fordist “ corporations, in particular) and in large bureaucracies.

Increase of heterogeneous and less stable forms of employment in service sector.

Male employment decreases but female employment increases more.

Growth of service jobs:from less than 40% (until 1970) to over 60% (last 90s)

Service sector's development Source: analisys on Oecd data

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1957

1959

1961

1963

1965

1967

1969

1971

1973

1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

Germany Italy Spain Sweden United Kingdom

Male employment trends:decline due mainly to increasing education

Male employment rateSource: Oecd Factbook 2007

60

70

80

90

France Germany Italy Spain Sweden United Kingdom

Female employment rates:constant and strong increase net of education growth.

Female Employment rateSource: Oecd Factbook 2007

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

France Germany Italy Spain Sweden United Kingdom

Characteristics of female employment’s increase Higher incidence of non-standard jobs:

80% of part-time employees are women. Germany-France: similar trends, but…

G.: 40% women in part time, mainly working less than 20 h. per week

F.: 25% women in part time, mainly working more than 20 h. per week

UK – Sweden: similar trends, but… UK: like Germany, predominantly short and

untenure part time Sweden: even more than in France good

part time

Female part-time trends:increase mainly in countries starting with low employment rates

Female part-time (% of employees)

Oecd – national definition:

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

France Germany Italy Spain Sweden United Kingdom

Different models of female part time’s ranges: Northern Europe, Germany and

UK high level; France intermediate, Southern Europe low. Part-time (% of total employment)

05

101520253035404550

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Germany Spain France Italy

N-O Italy South Italy Sweden UK

Source: Eurostat

Temporary employment trends:increasing slowly towards a common level around 15% (exceptions: Spain and UK)

Temporary employment (% of employees)Source: Oecd

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

France Germany Italy Spain Sweden United Kingdom

Temporary jobs

Increase in all countries Concentrated among young people (15-24 y.)

More than 50% in Spain, Germany, France and Sweden Slightly higher among women Mostly between 8 and 15% of employees Spain and UK are exceptions:

Spain: 35% (strong increase between end of 80s and begin of 90s

UK: constantly around 5% because of Tatcher’s deregulation within standard occupation

Self-employment trends in industry and services: a different area of new flexibility, strongly differentiated among countries

Self-employment (% of employees in industry and services) Fonte: Eurostat

0

5

10

15

20

25

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

France Germany Italy Spain Sweden United Kingdom

Educational disadvantage: high level of education reduce gender disadvantage; low level push up it, in particular in Southern Europe. Educational disadvantage is higher among women than men.Employment rate and educational level

0102030405060708090

100

Germany Spain France Italy Nord Ovest Sud (IT) Sweden UnitedKingdom

M tertiary F tertiary M low educ F low educ

Source: Eurostat

New social regulation of heterogeneous and unstable jobs 3 main areas of tensions between (new forms

of) work and social organization Non standard jobs for high qualified workers Low income jobs (low qualified natives; migrants

and minorities) Conciliation between work and family care

Employment and motherhood

an example from Great Britain: among low educated, more

ethnic disadvantage