Job precariousness and poverty dynamics among households with children

PurposeWhile the literature commonly analyses child poverty and social exclusion data covering a single year, less is known about children who fall in and out of poverty over a longer period. The present research intends to address this gap by investigating the dynamics of child poverty and social exclusion in Portugal. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate child poverty and social exclusion trajectories; and second to examine their association with specific socio-demographic and economic factors.Design/methodology/approachApplying the definition of “at risk of poverty or social exclusion” given by Statistical Office of the European Communities (EUROSTAT), the analysis extends beyond the concept of income poverty. The authors apply Portuguese data sourced from the European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions for the period 2008–2011 to suggest a longitudinal poverty and social exclusion typology to analyse child poverty and social exclusion dynamics.FindingsThe findings report that children constitute the age group experiencing the worst poverty and social exclusion trajectories. Furthermore, the presence of children in the household seems to be an increasing factor of poverty and social exclusion. This information is relevant to improving the design of children and family-focussed social policies as well as contributing to the setting of targets in order to achieve EU 2020 goals including the alleviation of poverty in general and of child poverty in particular.Originality/valueThe main contribution to child poverty studies derives from our analysis of the dynamics driving child poverty and social exclusion. The authors apply a methodological framework that is applicable to other EU member states and can thus enable an international comparison of poverty and social exclusion trajectories.

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.

Poverty is an important policy issue in OECD countries and the recent crisis has made it even more pressing. This paper highlights poverty rate differences across countries and reviews the various policies to tackle it. The OECD-wide poverty rate has drifted up, reaching around 11% in the late 2000s. In the majority of OECD countries, children suffer from a higher poverty rate than working-age people and poverty is more wide-spread among women than men. Albeit boosting employment is essential to reduce poverty rates durably, work alone does not suffice to eliminate it as in-work poverty is a problem in many countries The redistribution system is effective in reducing poverty. Countries achieving a greater reduction in market-income poverty tend to redistribute more towards people at the bottom of the income distribution. Policies aiming at facilitating paid work along with employment-conditional cash transfers to top-up the income of low-wage workers can offer effective ways to combat poverty. Child poverty is also a major concern because of its adverse long-term effects. Countries with low levels of child poverty combine low levels of joblessness among parents with effective redistribution policies towards children. This suggests these two policy approaches are complementary and relying exclusively on only one of them is likely to be insufficient to reduce poverty among children significantly.

The economic and financial crisis has resulted in a significant increase in the EU working poor. Nevertheless, the EU and its Member States have hardly coped directly with this phenomenon, adopting instead “traditional” social policies, aiming at increasing employment or combating poverty in general. However, in-work poverty is a complex issue, stemming from a variety of factors and requiring to be addressed specifically. The present paper offers an overview of in-work poverty in the EU from a labour and social security law point of view. Firstly, the concept of in-work poverty is delimited. Secondly, poor workers are identified according to the contractual typology. Thirdly, other in-work poverty factors are searched to understand if in-work poverty is exclusively linked to the labour market. Then, some examples of national working poor’s measures are analysed, as well as the EU policies in this regard. Finally, it is assessed if the EU actions are effective in order to solve the working poor problem and to coordinate the national anti-in-work poverty strategies chosen by the Member States.

We studied the development, profile, and income mobility among individuals in in-work poverty in Sweden over a period of 30 years using data covering the entire population on a yearly basis from 1987 to 2016. By introducing a more solid work requirement that stretches over more time than the frequently used ‘seven-month rule’, we make sure that the in-work poor person in our study is mainly working. Our results show that the profile has changed: in 1987, the typical in-work poor person was a native-born single woman, but in 2016, they were a married man born outside of Sweden. When modelling income mobility over two 5-year periods, our results show that changes in household composition explain both upward and downward mobility and that it has become harder to change income position. Interpreting the results on a structural level, two conclusions can be drawn. As in-work poverty is no longer female-dominated, the Swedish policy for gender equality has been successful. As it is now closely connected with immigration status, the integration of immigrants into the labour market must improve.

Background: Most cancer survivors are able to return to work at some point after diagnosis. However, literature on sustained employability and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is limited. Therefore, the aims of this study were to explore the influence of change in employment status on HRQoL in cancer survivors long term after diagnosis, and to identify predictors of work continuation in occupationally active survivors.Material and methods: We used prospective data (T0 = two years after diagnosis, T1 = one-year follow-up, and T2 = two-year follow-up) from a cohort of cancer survivors that had an employment contract and were of working age at T0 (N = 252, 69.8% female). Groups were formed on the basis of change in employment status: ‘continuously not working’ (19.8%), ‘positive change in employment status’ (5.6%), ‘negative change in employment status’ (14.7%), and ‘continuously working’ (59.9%). ANCOVA was used to explore the relationship between change in employment status and HRQoL at T1. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used to identify predictors of work continuation (at T1 and T2) in survivors that were occupationally active at T0 (N = 212).Results: ‘Continuously working’ survivors scored significantly better on the EORTC QLQ-C30 scales: role functioning, fatigue, pain, constipation, global health/QoL and the Summary score, than ‘continuously not working’ survivors, and better on physical, role and emotional functioning, fatigue, financial impact, global health/QoL and the Summary score than survivors with a ‘negative change in employment status’ (effect size range = 0.49–0.74). In occupationally active survivors, a high score on current work ability was associated with work continuation one year later [odds ratio (OR) 1.46; 95% CI 1.11–1.92].Conclusion: Cancer survivors ‘continuously working’ function better and have a better health and QoL than those who are not able to work. However, in occupationally active cancer survivors, one should monitor those with low self-perceived work ability, because they have an increased risk to discontinue their work.

The industrial countries in the world have a higher standard of living than at any time in history, but within the wealthy countries, there are still a number of children who live in poverty. The United States, which is the wealthiest country of six studied (Australia, Canada, Sweden, United States, United Kingdom, West Germany), had the highest poverty rate among children and the second highest poverty rate among families with children. From 1970 to 1987, the poverty rate for children in the United States increased from 15 to 20%. . . Child poverty rates vary enormously by the structure of the child's family. In every country [of the six studied], child poverty rates are at least twice as high, and usually much higher, in single-parent families than in two-parent families. . . . Perhaps the most striking figures are those that show the percentage of all children and of all poor children who are living in families with incomes below the 75% of the US poverty line. Here we find that US poor children are the worst off of children in any country [of the six studied] including Australia, with almost 10% existing at an income level at least 25% below the official US poverty standard. . . .In the United States, black families with children are particularly economically disadvantaged relative to white (non-black and non-Hispanic) families. The poverty rates among black children are three times as high as the rates of white children. Poverty rates of Hispanic children in the United States are double those of white children as well, But the poverty rate of US white children is still 11.4%. . .higher than the poverty rate of all children in [the] other [five] countries except Australia. . . Heterogeneity does matter; poverty rates are different for different populations and US poverty rates are high, due in part to its social and ethnic diversity. But this diversity does not matter enough to explain fully the high poverty of US children in general or even white children in particular. . . . One of the reasons why many children in the United States are poor is that 27% of all poor families with children and 23% of single-parent families receive no public income support. . . . In every other country, at least 99% of both types of families that were defined as poor by the Us poverty line definition receive some type of income support. . . . All the countries, except the United States, have child allowances that reach at least 80% of poor children. . . . Another reason why the United States does less well . . . is because the poverty gap is larger in the United States. . . . The larger the poverty gap, the more income is needed to remove a family from poverty. And the United States, which has the biggest gap for these families, provides the least income support per family. . . . Every country's welfare and other tax transfer programs reflect their own cultural and social philosophies. . . . Any change in the tax and transfer policies must be done within the national context of the country's social philosophy. But international comparisons of the poverty of today's children raise long-term questions. To the extent that poverty of children is related to poverty as adults, the quality of our future work force may be affected by the present poverty of our children. And the poverty of our children today may affect our long-term competitiveness with other wealthy countries who tolerate much less child poverty than does the United States.

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This study investigates levels and determinants of in-work poverty (IWP) in Western Europe using EU-SILC longitudinal data 2004–2019. We compared IWP risk and their dynamics across fourteen countries by examining individual labor market positions, household total labor supplies, and employment patterns. We further explored the social class gradient in exposure to IWP, as well as drivers and patterns of longitudinal accumulation of poverty. Relying on a single (standard) earner is often not enough to keep families out of poverty, confirming the importance of dual-earner household arrangements, even if they entail non-standard employment conditions for one partner. This holds particularly true for countries with high levels of IWP and for less privileged social and occupational groups across all contexts. Analyzing IWP inertia, we examined the interplay between genuine state dependence (GSD) and unobserved heterogeneity in the accumulation of economic disadvantage over time. Previous experiences with IWP can lead to future IWP for some, yet this causal effect appears rather small. Our findings have clear implications for the social stratification of risk and policies designed to combat poverty accumulation.

In this chapter the focus is on the child benefit package for working families and its contribution to tackling in-work child poverty. Tackling child poverty is high on the European Union’s political agenda. It was a priority in the March 2006 European Council, a focus of many of the National Reports on Social Protection and Social Inclusion 2006–8, and the main work of the EU experts on the National Action Plans in 2007. An influential report by the Social Protection Committee (2008) reflected much of this effort and contained detailed comparative analysis of child poverty using the new European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2005. The report drew attention to the fact that in the majority of the EU member states, children are at a higher risk of poverty than the population as a whole. More recent analyses of the EU-SILC (Atkinson and Marlier, 2010; Tarki, 2010, 2011) confirmed this finding. As a part of its ten-year economic plan, the June 2010 European Council set the target to reduce poverty and social exclusion in the EU by 20 million (European Council, 2010). If this objective is to be achieved, parents and their children will need to be a key focus of anti-poverty policies.

BackgroundAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and childhood poverty (CP) are linked to long-term harms, including poor health, lower educational attainment, and economic instability. However, few studies have examined their independent and combined effects on life course health and prosperity as well as their contributions to intergenerational cycles of poverty and abuse. This study analyses these associations using a large regional survey in northwest England.MethodsA cross-sectional household survey was conducted across five local authority/administrative areas (November 2023–April 2024) using a stratified quota sample by age, sex and deprivation. Analysis used a sample of 5,330 adults ≥ 18 years old. Along with retrospective questions on nine ACE types and CP measured on a Likert scale (categorised into tertiles), the survey measured self-reported health (chronic health condition, mental well-being and overall health) and self-assessed economic (household income, employment status) outcomes. Statistical analyses included chi-squared tests and logistic regression modelling.ResultsACE count was significantly related to CP. Increases in category of self-reported CP were associated with 43.7% of 4 + ACEs and 20.5% of 2–3 ACEs reports. ACE count and CP both showed independent dose response relationships with all three health measures. Adjusted prevalence of lower health rose from 20.6% (no ACEs, wealthiest CP tertile) to 45.2% (4 + ACEs, poorest CP tertile). Membership of the poorest CP tertile with no ACEs, or of the wealthiest tertile with 4 + ACEs showed intermediate values (34.6% and 28.9% respectively). Economic outcomes (low income, unemployed/long-term sick) showed similar independent and additive relationships with ACEs and CP. Percentage unemployed/long-term sick rose in the wealthiest CP tertile from 3.8% (0 ACEs) to 5.9% (4 + ACEs) and in the poorest tertile from 8.0% to 12.2% respectively.ConclusionsOur findings support ACEs being widespread across all socio-economic backgrounds but being more frequent in poorer childhoods. Both ACEs and CP appear independently associated with poorer life course health outcomes with exposure to ACEs adding to the risks from CP. Exposure to ACEs and CP are also associated with poorer economic outcomes in adulthood. Therefore, these childhood experiences in one generation may also increase the risk of CP and ACEs in the children they raise. Targeted interventions and policies are already available that can mitigate the impacts of ACEs and CP, improving health, economic stability and productivity and thus, reducing public service costs and increasing prosperity.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-025-23938-z.

There has been a widely accepted belief that employment growth is fundamental in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. The existence of working poverty proves that even if employment growth still represents the best way to avoid poverty risk it is not always enough, actions being needed to create not only more jobs, but also better jobs. The aim of this paper is to highlight the main causes and mechanism of working poverty in the EU countries, in the recent economic crisis and recovery period (2007–2012), in order to identify some possible measures that need to be taken so that in-work poverty reduces. The comparative analysis shows that the phenomenon of working poverty has been growing in sixteen EU countries and the prevalence of in-work poverty varies significantly across these countries. The correlation and regression analysis results suggest that gaps in the national human and economic development can be explained by disparities in working poverty rate. Vulnerable and precarious employment represents an important factor behind the high level of working poverty from the EU countries in the analysed period. By taking into consideration the cumulative influence of multiple socio-economic variables, for the 2007–2012 period, results of principal components analysis and cluster analysis highlight that there are common features and differences between the EU Member States according to their working poverty, employment performances, efficiency of welfare state system and the level of human and economic development. The findings of this study can be useful for policy makers in order to reduce the phenomenon of working poverty. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.25.4.6339

Background To investigate the impact of changes in employment status and their interaction with alcohol consumption on health outcomes among young workers. This study aims to explore how employment fluctuations, periodic unemployment, and economic activity levels influence the health of economically active individuals, focusing particularly on the synergistic effects that these employment changes may have when combined with alcohol consumption. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study using data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database. The study included individuals aged 25-44 years who underwent health check-ups between 2009 and 2010. We categorized changes in employment status into three groups: continuously employed, economically active with employment fluctuations, and periodically unemployed. We estimated adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals using multivariable Cox proportional hazard models to assess the impact of changes in employment status on the risk of all-cause mortality. The relative excess risk due to interaction, a widely accepted indicator of additive interaction, was used to assess the interaction between alcohol consumption and changes in employment status. Results Changes in employment status significantly increased the risk of all-cause mortality in both men and women in the economically active with employment fluctuations and periodically unemployed groups compared with the continuously employed group. The synergistic effect of alcohol consumption and changes in employment status on the risk of all-cause mortality was significant only among men. Conclusions The findings of this study indicate that changes in employment status, particularly when combined with alcohol consumption, significantly affect all-cause mortality among young workers. Key messages • Employment status fluctuations combined with alcohol consumption significantly increase all-cause mortality risks among young workers, especially men. • This study emphasizes the urgent need for targeted interventions that address the combined impact of employment and lifestyle factors on public health.

Background: Outcome measures need to be valid and have good test–retest reliability and responsiveness. We compared the responsiveness of the RAND-12 and the Health Utilities Index—mark III (HUI3) in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: In Spring 2018 and 2019, North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) registry participants completed the HUI3, the RAND-12, and reported disability (Patient Determined Disease Steps (PDDS)) and employment status (full-time, part-time, and no). We used changes in PDDS and employment status as anchors. We assessed responsiveness using effect size, standardized response mean, and the responsiveness index. We used relative efficiency (RE) to compare the responsiveness of the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores, adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Results: We included 4769 participants in the analysis. They had a mean (standard deviation (SD)) age of 60.9 (10.1) years, and 3826 participants (80.2%) were women. RE was highest for the HUI3 for changes in in disability status (HUI3: 1.0, Physical Component Score-12 (PCS-12): 0.80, and Mental Component Score-12 (MCS-12): 0.41) and for changes in employment status (HUI3: 1.0, PCS-12: 0.70, and MCS-12: 0.17). Conclusion: The HUI3 was more responsive to changes in disability and employment status than the PCS-12 or MCS-12. Given the HUI3’s other strong psychometric properties, it may be the preferred generic measure of HRQOL in MS.

As the number of working cancer patients increases, workplace discrimination and its relationship to changes in employment status among cancer patients is becoming an increasingly important social concern. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive overview of the relationship between changes in employment status and discrimination following a diagnosis of cancer. A total of 748 cancer patients, aged 18 years and older, who were employed before receiving a diagnosis of cancer, were enrolled in this study. Patients were recruited from ten cancer centers in Korea. Sociodemographic data, work-related data, and clinical information, as well as information on changes in employment status and incidences of discrimination, were collected from all patients. A change in employment status was reported by 73.4% of the sample, with unemployment being the most common change (46.4%). Forty-two (5.6%) patients reported that they had experienced discrimination in the workplace. Reports of discrimination were only weakly correlated with changes in employment status, but were significantly correlated with forced unemployment. Additional analyses revealed that being female, being from a lower socioeconomic status group and having a disability were risk-factors for unemployment, while being male, being from a higher socioeconomic status group and having a disability were risk-factors for workplace discrimination or forced unemployment. More attention should be paid to vulnerable who are diagnosed with cancer. An individualized and culture-based approach should be taken to minimize undesirable changes in employment status and to reduce discrimination among patients receiving a diagnosis of cancer.