1 - Theoretical Background

Summary

Introduction

Various empirical studies over the past fifteen years have found a relationship between the spreading of objectively unstable work careers and different transitions into adult life. Comparative studies have shown that this effect varies between welfare state systems. A key issue to be explored and addressed in this book is how workers themselves perceive and experience instability, and how such subjective perceptions of instability interact with objective conditions, ultimately affecting individuals’ representations of their economic and social situation. We argue that the subjective perception of job insecurity is very relevant, perhaps more than objective conditions, in defining the opportunities and constraints within which individuals make their work and private decisions.

The objective and subjective dimensions of job insecurity have been addressed in sociological literature by several theoretical and empirical studies, with particular attention to the variations associated with welfare regimes and labour market regulations, yet other micro level dimensions have received less attention or findings remain inconclusive. Moreover, while the effects of objective job insecurity on the transition to adult life have been extensively studied (Blossfeld et al, 2005; Blossfeld and Hofmeister, 2008; Bertolini, 2011; Ebralidze, 2011), mainly with quantitative methods, the decision-making mechanisms and strategies of young people and young adults for facing and making decisions in conditions of subjective insecurity have remained almost unexplored. Furthermore, comparatively little research has investigated how (objective and subjective) job insecurity impacts on later transitions in life, such as mid-career trajectories and transitions from work to retirement. This book aims to fill this evident gap in previous research.

The combination of quantitative and qualitative empirical data allows us to describe overall societal patterns and structures, together with a deeper comprehension of the decision-making mechanisms of individuals. Through a mixed-method approach, the book reconstructs how job insecurity varies within the different welfare systems on the one hand and, on the other hand, allows us to deepen the focus on the mechanisms and strategies implemented by individuals in situations of insecurity and in specific institutional settings (for example, under the threat of losing the job, or not being renewed in the same job, or not finding a new one in case of job loss, and so on).