ILPC 2026

Due to recent developments in the modern labour markets  the burden of job loss, prolonged unemployment, rising job turnover and increasing risks of non-standard employment seem to be disproportionately carried by young people and concerns have been raised whether the crisis has produced a “lost generation” of young people (Bell & Blanchflower 2011; O’Higgins 2012; Müller & Gangl 2003). These factors will have detrimental effects for the social integration of the European society and are particularly visible in the postponement (or lack) of transition to adult life. 

However,  the  magnitude  of  the repercussions of labour market insecurities on individual transitions in private life differs notably among countries, suggesting that institutional contexts at the nation-state level mediate  the  effects  of  globalisation  on  young  individuals  in  a  nation-specific  way (Blossfeld et al., 2011; Mills and Blossfeld, 2003).

 

The symposium will focus on the consequences of such a deterioration in the opportunities of social and labour market integration for youth in Europe. We will deal with the concept of social exclusion of youth, emphasising the importance of structural constrains on the unemployed and insecure workers. Social exclusion can be defined as a situation of multiple deprivation, were the loss or inability to find a job results in a cumulative process of rising poverty risk and social isolation, which in turn reinforce the risk of long-term unemployment creating a vicious circle (Gallie&Paugam 2004, Silver and Miller 2003, Atkinson 1998, Whelan 2010). 

Indeed, unemployment and insecure jobs are potential trigger events or at least a contributing factor to the process of the cumulative accumulation of disadvantages across the life path. However, there is no simple and causal link between unemployment and job insecurity and other dimensions of social exclusion like poverty and social isolation. The meaning of unemployment and insecure jobs and its impact on social exclusion of youth varies substantially between societies as a result of differences in interaction between individual resources and institutional and cultural contexts, especially in the welfare and family systems.

 

Starting from the overall theme of social exclusion, we will then address in detail the consequences of social exclusion on three key dimensions where social inequalities may arise: i) health and well-being, ii) housing autonomy and iii) socio-economic consequences.

 

Health and well-being are a major concern as far as social integration of youth. The question of whether the 

effects  of  labour  market  insecurity  are  only  temporary  or  persistent  should  be  of particular interest to policy-makers, who design the labour market policies as well as healthcare policies. This is particularly relevant also considering that the variation in  the  magnitude  between  labour  market  insecurity  and  health  depending  on  social characteristics (e.g. women and NEET). Finally, even in contexts where welfare measures provide  financial  support  to  unemployed  individuals,  the downsizing of welfare states in times of rising unemployment is thought to have increased the risk of economic hardship caused by unemployment. 

 

Housing autonomy represents another crucial domain as leaving the home of origin and setting up one’s own household is regarded as one of the key markers of the transition to adulthood. Focussing on this transition is particularly relevant in virtue of its link with macro level policies and institutions: indeed, in many countries the transmission of intergenerational wealth passes through homeownership perpetuating intergenerational transmission of social inequalities. In this respect macroeconomic context matters and designing social policies that impact on the degree of economic and social vulnerability of youth but also on the structure of the housing market remains a subject of governmental responsibility.

 

Finally, the analysis of middle- and long-term socio-economic consequences of labour market insecurity is extremely relevant if we consider that early career uncertainty can have cumulative effects, entrapping youth in a circle of cumulative disadvantages. Young individuals initially affected by atypical employment or unemployment will carry a “scar” from this experience, i.e. will also be more likely to be affected by these negative states in the future. Even in the case of re-employment, scarring effects may be at work, resulting in lower wages or lesser employment security as compared to those people who started their career in stable jobs. Socio-economic consequences of employment uncertainty hence are not stationary but may even deteriorate  over  time,  thus  making  youth  in  these  states  more  vulnerable  to  poverty and/or deprivation in the future.       

 

The relevance of the proposed symposium to the ILPC conference and to the 2018 theme lies in the fact that the concept of social exclusion and the three dimensions where it displays it potential highlight some major sources of inequalities for youth in Europe. Although in most European countries the divide in terms of who suffer the consequences of the globalization and flexibilization of the labour markets run across generations, the concept of class is not less relevant. Indeed, social stratification is still observable in the extent to which family background and parental support can mediate the negative effects of precarious job or lack of job. Moreover, the role of the institutional setting in mediating the effect of the deregulation of labour market is still clearly observable, with youth facing different sets of opportunities according to the welfare regime they belong to.

 

The symposium will take the form of a roundtable self-contained discussion, with the following contributions:

 

- Marge Unt (Tallin University, EE): dimensions of social exclusion 

- Michael Gebel (University of Bamberg, DE): health and wellbeing and job instability

- Sonia Bertolini (University of Turin, IT): transition to adulthood and job instability

- Valentina Goglio (University of Turin, IT and Stanford University, USA): youth and housing autonomy

- Dirk Hofaecker (University of Duisburg-Essen, DE): mid/long term socio-economic consequences of youth unemployment