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