Cross-country evidence on the individual dynamics of in-work poverty in the EU

In Spain, 70% of children in poverty live in households with one or more workers; equally, households with children make up the majority of households in in-work poverty (53%) despite representing only 27% of all households. However, in-work poverty and child poverty are often thought of as separate problems. Most analyses on in-work poverty in Spain use data from a single year and focus on working individuals. However, since households share needs and resources, understanding the factors that increase the risk of poverty requires studying households. In this work, carried out at the Demographic Studies Centre at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, we adopt a dynamic perspective to analyse the interrelationship between child and in-work poverty, and specifically the high in-work poverty rates in households with children and adolescents. Using longitudinal data from the Living Conditions Survey (2017-2020), we examine the role played by childbirth/adoption, the presence of children in the household and their age in the processes of impoverishment. We find that in 2020 only 4% of households entering in-work poverty experienced an increase in the number of children and adolescents in the household. In contrast, 37% of entrants experienced a decrease in income without decreasing the number of workers (for example, due to a temporary period of unemployment), and 29% a reduction in unemployment benefit income. Households with children tend to have greater difficulties in escaping poverty, which translates into longer periods in in-work poverty. We conclude that changes in employment status are more relevant than changes in household composition for understanding child and working poverty. Additionally, the role of risk factors such as temporary employment is compounded in households with children, further reducing their poverty exit rates. Reducing child poverty requires tackling in-work poverty and vice versa

This chapter highlights the potential of a longitudinal approach to gain better insight into the dynamic patterns of working poverty. While cross-sectional research can show us the characteristics of people at risk of in-work poverty, it cannot show us how transitory or persistent in-work poverty is. A longitudinal approach can further our insight by showing the duration of in-work poverty, the typical sequence of events leading to working poverty and the patterns of exit from in-work poverty. It can furthermore show us which population groups are at risk of persistent working poverty, and how episodes of working poverty are embedded in the life course. We start this chapter with highlighting the advantages of a longitudinal approach to working poverty. In a second section we will review the existing research evidence on dynamic approaches to poverty and employment. In the third section we will introduce the research design needed to study dynamics of working poverty. This includes a discussion of the type of data necessary (socio-economic household panel data), as well as a brief overview of the relevant analysis techniques. The fourth section of the chapter includes empirical examples of the dynamics of in-work poverty.

This book is the outcome of a collective research project undertaken within the Framework of the European Network of Excellence RECWOWE (Reconciling Work and Welfare in Europe). Editors and authors have been concerned to follow a clear pattern of increasing integration of research partners and activities. After an initial period of activity devoted to the completion of a comprehensive state-of-the-art survey on the tension between quantity and quality of work, in-work poverty (IWP) was seen as one specific and relevant dimension (Guillén, Gutiérrez and Peña-Casas, 2009). A second task was aimed at selecting and integrating research on five country cases - Spain, France, United Kingdom, Sweden, Poland - analysing in detail the relative performance of the country concerned on the basis of previous comparative analysis, with a special focus on the role of institutional and policy factors. In a third task the research focus was expanded to highlight specific factors of IWP, such as the influence of tax and benefit policies, on the persistence and dynamics of in-work poverty, on wage inequalities and household characteristics, on the gender dimension of in-work poverty, on migrants and in-work poverty.

Las relaciones entre el riesgo de pobreza y el empleo se han convertido en un problema de creciente interés en los últimos años. El grueso de la investigación disponible sobre este problema es de tipo transversal. El análisis dinámico de la pobreza laboral es particularmente interesante para la respuesta de varias cuestiones: ¿es el empleo suficiente para evitar la pobreza? ¿Es la pobreza laboral una situación temporal o permanente? En este trabajo se analiza la dinámica de la pobreza de los trabajadores en España; con el objetivo de conocer si las caídas en la pobreza laboral se producen solo temporalmente, si las personas caen varias veces en esta situación o si, de lo contrario, la pobreza laboral se configura como un fenómeno que produce atrapamiento y del cual es muy difícil salir. A su vez se pretende analizar los distintos perfiles de pobreza laboral en función de su duración.

ABSTRACTThe article analyzes the extent and features of in-work poverty in Lithuania in the aftermath of the global economic crisis of 2007–2008. It argues that the significant expansion of the phenomenon during this time period was fostered by neoliberal policies that have been shaping the welfare system in the country for more than two decades. Furthermore, it draws attention to employment conditions and seeks to understand the experiences of those who live in in-work poverty. This article reveals that, during the period investigated, in-work poverty in Lithuania was associated with being a woman, having children, belonging to single-parent household, and being employed in a precarious working environment.

In-work poverty (IWP) is gaining interest in the public agenda. This article is a first contribution to the analysis of IWP dynamics in Latin America, based on the study of the Argentine case. Using one-year interval panel data, the paper analyzes the trigger events that produce entries and exits from IWP, short-term poverty trajectories and the determinants associated to transient and persistent poverty. Drawing on a decomposition analysis of mutually exclusive events, the article shows that labor market events are the most relevant triggers for both exits and entries into IWP. Based on a multinomial logistic regression, the paper concludes that low education, the presence of children in the household, and having a low-quality job are the three main factors explaining persistent-poverty.