Objectives:

1. Measure and assess the objective consequences of labour market marginalisation of young people measured by: level of income, material deprivation, and the consumption of legal and illegal drugs.
2. Measure and assess the subjective consequences of job insecurity on young people, with special attention paid to: happiness, life satisfaction, health satisfaction, job satisfaction, level of aspiration, stress and depression levels as well as the level of trust in state institutions and society.
3. Connect the subjective and objective perspectives for assessing the consequences of job insecurity

Description of work:

Task 4.1 Objective consequences of job insecurity and labour market marginalization in Europe

Comparison of the level of objective consequences of job insecurity and labour market marginalisation in European countries. Analyse how the differences in youth unemployment rates and the proportion of young people with different types of contracts affect earnings volatility and long-term earnings inequality. In order to develop this, we will use the EU-SILC to explore the earnings dynamics of young people in Europe.

We divide individual earnings into permanent and transitory components by fitting error component models to the covariance structure of individual earnings. The distinction between permanent and transitory earnings components is important from a policy perspective because the degree of persistence in individual earnings differences also tells us to what extent low earnings are a lasting or a one-off experience. Furthermore, we will estimate how much more instable the earnings of young people with fixed-term contracts are relative to those on permanent contracts by modelling the effect of fixed-term contracts on the transitory and permanent components of earnings.

Lead partner: UDG. Duration: Months 4-9.

NEGOTIATE Working paper No. 4.1: “Permanent and transitory earnings inequality of young people in Europe” Download paper: NEGOTIATE working paper no D4.1 (pdf)

Task 4.2 Objective consequences of job insecurity – the labour market conditions and the consumption of drugs

Empirical cross-country comparison of the level of objective consequences of job insecurity and labour market marginalisation in European countries. Here we are interested in understanding whether strong negative labour market conditions have an effect on young adolescents, particularly on their consumption of both legal and illegal drugs. To test empirically whether this effect is taking place as a response to negative (or positive) labour market and economic conditions, we will use data from HBSC surveys for several years (1985/86, 1989/90, 1993/94, 1997/98, 2001/02, 2005/06) and in several countries. Applying regression models, we test the effect of business cycle variations at the regional level in several countries on the probability of young women and men consuming drugs. We consider the consumption of both legal and illegal drugs and we include several variables of personal characteristics of the individual, his/her family and his/her habits in order to control for the effects that these personal factors can have on the consumption of drugs.

Lead partner: UDG. Participant: HiOA-NOVA. Duration: 10-15.

NEGOTIATE Working paper No. 4.2: “The effects of the economic crisis on drug consumption of young individuals in Europe – unemployment, drugs and attitudes among European youth”. Download paper: NEGOTIATE working paper no D4.2 (pdf)

Task 4.3 Subjective consequences of early job insecurity and labour market marginalization in Europe

Cross-country quantitative analysis of the subjective consequences of early job insecurity and labour market marginalisation. Applying different statistical techniques to large-scale survey data from sources such as the ESS, the World Value Survey, Eurobarometer, European Quality of Life Survey, we investigate what early job insecurity and unemployment means for a range of subjective dimensions that affect well-being and quality of life. Measures of interest include happiness, life-satisfaction and belief in the future. Furthermore, we look at how attitudinal differences between those in more stable jobs compare with those in precarious situations and whether this affects their attitudes to trust in societal organisations and governments. Whenever possible we will also exploit longitudinal data from the CNEF, GSOEP (Germany) and Understanding Society (United Kingdom).

Lead partner: PUE. Participant: UOB and UDG. Duration: Months 10-20.

NEGOTIATE Working paper No. 4.3: “Understanding the subjective consequences of early job insecurity in Europe”. Download paper: NEGOTIATE working paper 4.3 (pdf)

Task 4.4 Consequences of diverse and changing labour market experinces in Europe

Participate in a set of coordinated semi-structured interviews (implemented together with WP5) about the life courses of men and women, who belong to three different cohorts (born 1950-55, 1970-75 and 1990-95) and who have experienced unemployment as young adults. Participating countries are BG, CZ, DE, EL, NO, PL and the UK. In each country, the interview sample will be gender-balanced (4-5 women and 4-5 men in each cohort) and cover different backgrounds with regard to education, ethnicity and type of settlement. The purpose is to investigate perceived consequences of their diverse and changing labour market experience in the selected European countries. The interview guide will include topics such as the person’s education and career choices, work and income history (what kind of job and contract, job durations), relations with social services (esp. employment services) and participation in employment-promoting measures, receipt of income support benefits, degree of satisfaction with work and private life, and social trust (e.g. trust in public institutions and fellow citizens).

Both WPs 4 and 5 will use the same sample frame and the same interview topic guide (as outlined in section 1.3.2). While WPs 4 and 5 will collaborate on the development of a joint interview guide, there will be a clear division of work in the data analysis. For task 4.4, the focus is on how the different generations’ experiences of unemployment as young adults have affected different aspects of the respondents’ personal life satisfaction and social trust.

Lead partner: HiOA-NOVA. Participants: UB, UOB, MU, UPSPS, PUE and ISSK. Duration: 14-23.

NEGOTIATE Working paper No. 4.4: “Youth unemployment and the consequences for life satisfaction and social trust in seven European countries”. Download paper: NEGOTIATE working paper 4.4 (pdf)

Task 4.5 Consequences of early job insecurity – the role of the welfare state

Comparative analysis of the subjective and objective consequences of job insecurity and the role of the welfare state, integrating the findings from the quantitative (tasks 4.2-4.3) and qualitative analyses (task 4.4) and building on the output from task 3.4.

Lead partner: PUE. Participants: HiOA-NOVA and UB. Duration: 24-29.