The growth of precarious employment in Europe: Concepts, indicators and the effects of the global economic crisis

Abstract

Since the 1970s, the reorganization of production and neoliberal “flexibilization” have made employment increasingly precarious in the developed economies. Examining the concept of precarious employment, the author focuses on two of its dimensions – insecurity and poverty – which he uses to construct a “precariousness index”. Based on Eurostat data for 1995–2015, he then tracks the growth of precarious employment across the EU-15 and assesses the impact of the 2008 global economic crisis in this respect. While precarious employment generally increased after the crisis, this trend was driven more by poverty in the most deregulated labour markets and more by insecurity in the southern European countries.