Pobreza laboral en España. Un análisis dinámico

[Background:] In-work poverty, a phenomenon that engenders social exclusion, is exceptionally high in the United States. The literature on in-work poverty focuses on occupational polarization, human capital, demographic characteristics, and welfare generosity. However, we have no knowledge on the effects of family demographic processes on in-work poverty across individuals' life courses. [Objective:] We estimate the risk of in-work poverty in the United States over the life course as a function of family demographic processes, namely leaving the parental home, union formation and dissolution, and the transition to parenthood. [Methods:] We use data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) and fixed effects regression models with interactions between age and each family demographic process to estimate age-specific associations between these processes and the probability of in-work poverty. [Results:] In-work poverty is a common phenomenon across the life courses of our study cohort: 20% of individuals are at risk of in-work poverty at every age. However, the risk generally decreases for men and increases for women across the life course. Leaving the parental home, entering parenthood, and separation increase, while marriage decreases the risk of in-work poverty. While the associations between marital statuses and in-work poverty are stable over the life course, the associations between parental home leaving and fertility with in-work poverty vary by age. [Contribution:] Our findings demonstrate the importance of family demographic processes over and above traditional stratification factors for the risk of in-work poverty. Associations between family demographic processes and in-work poverty estimated for all age groups may be grossly underestimated.

Is in-work poverty a low-wage or an unemployment problem, and is it the same problem all across Europe? Because of the definitional ambiguity, we really do not know. In this article, we use longitudinal European Union-Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data from 22 countries and derive a set of distinct clusters of labour market trajectories (LMTs) from information about monthly labour market position from a 36-month observation window and estimate in-work poverty risk for each LMT. The results show that in-work poverty is a problem that affects the self-employed and people in a marginal labour market position, that is, those who for different reasons move in and out of employment. Hence, in-work poverty is mainly an unemployment problem, not a low-wage problem. Besides the fact that the size of LMTs varies between countries, we also expected to find systematic country differences in the effect of LMTs. The analysis did not support that assumption.

This contribution sets a research agenda for social security lawyers, taking into account the risks arising out of platform work and the challenges it poses to in-work poverty. In 2018, almost one worker in ten in Europe was considered at risk of poverty, an increase of 1,4 % since 2006. New trends have also emerged in this domain, with more and more people at work facing a risk of in-work poverty. This is particularly true for workers in atypical employment relationships (e.g. solo self-employment and platform work). Although in-work poverty is not a new phenomenon (neither in Europe nor elsewhere), the discussion on in-work poverty resurges. The difficulties for EU Member States to reduce their poverty rates may be caused, at least partly, by the fact that the kind of employment available is increasingly threatening the capacity of individuals to ensure a decent standard of living through employment (as a result of technological and institutional changes, such as digitalisation and deregulation). It is in that perspective that the role of social security systems to protect against the risk of falling into poverty, and the challenges that certain forms of work present for the reduction of in-work poverty, gain particular importance. In this contribution, we will focus on non-standard work (and, especially, platform work) and the challenges it poses for social security schemes. Specifically, we will use the Council Recommendation on Access to Social Protection for Workers and the Self-Employed as a framework to identify a set of challenges that platform work may pose to social security systems' ability to provide effective and adequate, as well as transparent coverage (and which also jeopardize its capacity to prevent in-work poverty). First, the notions of "non-standard forms of work" and "platform work" are discussed further in detail, with a particular focus on how non-standard work deviates from a standard employment relationship. Secondly, the contribution presents a series of challenges for social security lawyers that emanate from the risk of in-work poverty and platform work. This is followed by a presentation of the Council Recommendation and how it may serve as a framework in order to address these challenges. In a final part, the authors reflect on what kind of future (legal) research in the domain of social security could be useful taking into account the challenges arising from in-work poverty and platform work.

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

In-work poverty is becoming an important category of poverty in many developed economies, where labour polarization and income disparity have trapped in poverty a growing number of people, particularly low-skilled workers, despite their active participation in the labour force. In Hong Kong, the government has acknowledged the seriousness of the problem and has made the working poor one of the main target groups of its poverty reduction strategy. Existing studies have identified various individual, employment and household factors that contribute to the poverty risk of households with working members. These factors operate through three mechanisms: low earnings, the lack of other earners in the household and high living costs related to the care of dependent members in the household. The relative importance of these mechanisms varies according to the socio-economic contexts of different societies. In order to formulate an effective poverty reduction policy, it is necessary to understand which mechanisms lead to in-work poverty in a local context. In this paper, we sought to identify the characteristics of households affected by in-work poverty, and the mechanisms that lead to such poverty, by analysing a data sample from the 2011 Hong Kong Population Census. The results show that low-paid work and the absence of a second earner in the household are the two main mechanisms that lead to in-work poverty in Hong Kong. The results also show that the risk of in-work poverty differs for high- and low-skilled labour. We propose that the government should strengthen the poverty reduction strategy by countering the income disparity in the labour market and adopting an integrated approach in the formulation of policy to improve the labour participation of working-poor households.

Growing empirical evidence reveals the dramatic expansion in the risk of in-work poverty on a global scale over the last half-century. The current article reviews research on in-work poverty, illustrates how in-work poverty developed from a regional phenomenon into a global issue, and considers recent studies that have reexamined the concept of “in-work poverty” from the original “male family head” to further call on respecting the individual perspective and gender dimension. On the one hand, few studies have provided evidence on the gendered trends in in-work poverty; women’s situation in in-work poverty has not been particularly researched, and the gender dimension is often invisible. On the other hand, the existing literature does not consider this poverty issue much in developing countries, even though this does not mean that in-work poverty in developed countries is only a “side effect.” Hence, an international comparative setting with the gender dimension is needed, and more research is required to explore this construct within the context of the developing world.

The article studies effects of social policies on in-work poverty risks, distinguishing between measures that either intervene in labour market processes—that is, pre-distribution policies—or redistribute towards those with low incomes. The analyses use data from EU-SILC and macro-level indicators from various sources to estimate general as well as household-type-specific effects using longitudinal methods. Results reveal important differences between specific policies: Increasing minimum wages contributes to reducing low-wage risks but has no significant effect on in-work poverty risks. In contrast, there is a negative effect of strict employment protection legislation across almost all household types on in-work poverty, which is consistent with the positive role this measure plays in supporting earnings that are sufficient to provide not only for one person but also for potential dependants in the household. With respect to redistribution policies, both unemployment benefits and benefits to low earners reduce poverty due to their contribution to public poverty reduction. However, whereas unemployment benefits reduce in-work poverty only among couple households, benefits to low earners mainly contribute to lower poverty risks among employed single parents. Overall, the results underscore that pre-distribution and redistribution as well as universal and targeted interventions cannot easily substitute for each other.

Family demographic processes and in-work poverty: A systematic review.

Work intensity is considered one relevant factor in shaping the risk of experiencing in-work poverty, i.e., being a worker with a household income below the relative poverty line. However, little attention has been paid to how work intensity is associated with workers' subjective poverty (i.e., their feeling of being in-work poor) and to how this association varies across geographical areas. Therefore, the present work intends to fill this gap and investigate the relationship between work-intensity and the risk of experiencing in-work poverty, in both objective and subjective terms as well as differences among local contexts, i.e., regions and degrees of urbanisation. The analysis is based on 2018 cross-sectional data from the Italian module of the Eu-Silc survey. Empirical results show that work intensity is negatively associated with both objective and subjective in-work poverty, but the relation is stronger with the former. Furthermore, densely, intermediate and thinly populated areas show similar trends, whereas there is a persistent gap between, on the one hand, the North-Center of Italy and, on the other, the South, which has the highest risk of objective and subjective in-work poverty. However, the latter is also the area where the association between work intensity and in-work poverty is stronger.

Objective: The association between a first, second, and third childbirth and in-work poverty in the short- and medium-term were assessed across age groups in the US and Germany. Background: Previous research on in-work poverty has concentrated on structural and ascriptive characteristics, while family processes - especially childbirths - received less attention. This gap was filled by adopting a processual life course approach. Method: Longitudinal data from the US and Germany were applied to between-within random effects models to estimate within-individual change in the probability of in-work poverty up to six years following a first, second, and third childbirth across age groups. Results: First, second, and third birth were associated with an immediate increase in the probability of in-work poverty (up to 10 and 5 percentage points in the US and in Germany, respectively). Among US adults aged 30 and younger probabilities increased in the medium term (from 9 to 15 percentage points for a first, 6 to 15 for a second, and 9 to 18 for a third birth), but remained unchanged for older adults in the US and all adults in Germany. Conclusion: There was no recovery in risk of in-work poverty in the medium-term following childbirth in the US and Germany. Increasing the labor market participation of adult household members via more and low-cost childcare options remains crucial. However, higher levels of income support and child benefits may be needed to avoid poverty.

Dual or multiple earnership has been considered an important factor to prevent in-work poverty. The aim of this paper is to quantify the impact of second earnership on the risk of in-work poverty and the role of the tax-benefit system in moderating this risk. Our analysis refers to 2014 and employs EUROMOD, the tax-benefit microsimulation model for the European Union and the United Kingdom. In order to assess the role of second earners in preventing in-work poverty we simulate a counterfactual scenario where second earners become unemployed. Our results show that the effect of net replacement rates (i.e. the ratio of household income before and after the transition of second earners to unemployment) on the probability of in-work poverty is negative and statistically significant, but in relative terms it appears to be small compared to the effects of individual labour market characteristics, such as low pay and part-time employment.

In-work poverty is a challenge for the European Union (EU) and, more generally, for the stability and well-being of societies in EU Member States. The quality of employment and the fight against poverty are interdependent issues that feature prominently in the Europe 2020 strategy, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda and the social commitments announced by the EU at the Porto Summit in 2021 and 2023. This study proposes to analyse from a legal point of view the many issues raised by the emerging phenomenon of in-work poverty and to open up avenues of research in national and EU law. The study draws on the results of three years’ work by a consortium of European universities and research centres brought together under the Working, Yet Poor (« WorkYP ») project, funded by the EU’s Horizon2020 programme for the years 2020-2023, analysing the legal systems of seven European countries (Germany, Italy, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Sweden). The project placed at the heart of the analysis certain groups of workers, characterized by their (particularly) vulnerable position (« VUP » - Vulnerable and Under-represented Persons). By adopting this analytical perspective, the study aims to examine the risk of in-work poverty that these groups may face and the obstacles to their protection. This should make it possible to devise possible ways to combat in-work poverty from a multilevel regulatory perspective.

Risks of youth poverty in relation to employment have largely been overlooked both internationally and locally, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Moving beyond the concepts of income, economic factors and in-work poverty as applied to the general population, we examine the multi-scalar employment risk confronting highly educated working youth (aged eighteen to twenty-nine) in Hong Kong by assessing the intersection of precarious employment and in-work poverty, which is crucial to understanding youth poverty. Drawing on in-depth interview research on creative workers, this study calls for the reconceptualisation of in-work poverty through the lens of precarious employment, which is not viewed as a separate economic entity, but as an organic whole encompassing a multi-scalar risk in economic, social, psychological and political terrains generating an existential problem shaping young people’s sense of future and work-life meaning. This article sheds light on the policy implications of high-educated youth suffering from in-work poverty in the creative industry.

This article investigates the hidden gender bias in in-work poverty within the European Union (EU). Using data from EUROSTAT, INE, EIGE, and various surveys, it identifies inconsistencies in poverty rates among employed women due to issues with construction and equivalence scales. The research highlights the "gender paradox," where women face significant disadvantages in the labour market, yet statistical data do not always reflect a gender bias in in-work poverty rates. To elucidate this phenomenon, the study advocates for expanding the analysis of indicators with alternative aggregation methodologies to better understand the household black box. It proposes an alternative methodology for assessing in-work poverty, considering individual incomes and family responsibilities, and suggests including in-kind benefits in poverty measurements. The findings underscore the importance of addressing gender biases in the labour market and their impact on in-work poverty.

The focus of the present contribution is the role of European Union (EU) law in shaping the working conditions of four groups of vulnerable workers. It assesses to what extent the impact of EU law favours, on these particular groups, an increased risk of In-Work Poverty (IWP) and explores whether the recent attention to IWP at EU level and the latest initiatives adopted may change the picture in the near future. The purpose is, therefore, to contribute to the debate on the role of EU law and policy in structuring vulnerability from the perspective of IWP. What is commonly known as EU labour law is a fragmentary legal corpus that has grown in a rather patchwork fashion as part of a social dimension of the European project that was, broadly speaking, functional to the logic of market integration. This originates in the early division of competences between the EU and the Member States in the Treaty of Rome, which left labour law and social protection outside the EU sphere of action. It partly explains why the protection of workers, particularly those that do not engage in cross-border situations, does not seem to be the EU’s primary goal, or at least it is not formulated as contrary to other potentially clashing rationales such as market integration, flexibility, enhanced competitiveness and so on. The prevention of IWP was not, in any case, one of the concerns of the original European project. Yet, EU law has produced several pieces of legislation that directly or indirectly contribute to shaping the working conditions of European workers, including those more exposed to IWP. The paper assesses the relevant EU legal framework and discusses its impact on the working conditions of those more at risk of IWP. It concludes by estimating the potential of a series of recent initiatives to enhance the protection of the most vulnerable workers, thus making a positive change.