Changing Labour Market Opportunities for Young People in Italy and the Role of the Family of Origin

Abstract

This paper considers the increased incidence of insecure job conditions for young individuals entering the Italian labour market and their chances of moving to a more secure job after a reasonable period of time. In particular, we investigate empirically whether and how long-term changes in labour market institutions and conditions have altered the role of the family of origin in both labour market entry and subsequent transitions. We use the Italian Households Longitudinal Study (Ilfi) and show that employment opportunities have changed significantly in Italy over the past three decades (from the late 1970s to the early 2000s). For an increasing share of young adults precariousness extends over a fairly long period of their working life. The family of origin reduced the probability of insecurity both in the early 1980s and during the 1990s, but in a different way: in the early 1980s, it had an effect in the entry year, but not subsequently; after the implementation of the Treu reform, its effect appeared only in the years following that of entry. Our overall results suggest that the rapid expansion of insecure contractual arrangements in the 1990s-early 2000s has increased the difficulty of transitioning to a "better" job condition (i.e. secure employment). This has enhanced the role of the family of origin in overcoming the difficulty and generated new inequalities among young Italians.JEL Classification: D6, J2.

Five Characteristics of Youth Unemployment in Europe

“…When jobs are scarce, parents and other networks can become important factors in getting a job (Berloffa, Modena, & Villa, 2011; Granovetter, 1973). But in prosperous economic times when jobs are available, youth unemployment can also be high because of the gap between expectations, aspirations, and the realities of low wages and poor working conditions on offer (Giraldo & Trivellato, 2006).…”

Youth employment security and labour market institutions: A dynamic perspective

“…In some countries -such as Austria, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom -temporary contracts can serve as a stepping stone to more stable and better-paid jobs (European Commission, 2010, pp. 140-142;de Graaf-Zijl, van den Berg and Heyma, 2011), in other countries -such as Spain, Italy and Greece, but also France and Poland -temporary jobs are seen as traps, from which there is little chance of escaping (D'Addio and Rosholm, 2005;Ichino, Mealli and Nannicini, 2008;Berloffa, Modena and Villa, 2014;Givord and Wilner, 2015). These results suggest that, in some countries, the job insecurity associated with the use of temporary contracts is limited to the first few years of labour market entry, after which the individual enjoys the job security associated with permanent contracts.…”

The quality of employment in the early labour market experience of young Europeans

“…5 Generally, results provide evidence of a negative relationship between EPL and the inflow rate into unemployment, the rate of exit from unemployment and the hiring rate (more difficulties to find new jobs), the speed of entry or re-entry in employment (Gomez-Salvador et al, 2004;OECD, 2004;Scherer, 2005;Wolbers, 2007;Kugler and Pica, 2008;Mills and Prag, 2014). 6 These studies show that in some countries -such as Germany, Austria, UK, Sweden and the Netherlandstemporary contracts act as stepping stones to more stable and better paid jobs (EC, 2010: 140-142;de Graaf-Zijl et al, 2011), but in other countries -such as Spain, Italy, Greece but also France and Poland -they act as 'traps' (D'Addio and Rosholm, 2005;Berloffa et al, 2014;Givord and Wilner, 2015). about the duration of individual unemployment spells between different jobs, which is essential for the evaluation of the actual degree of individuals' employment security.…”