Precarious Employment, Gender, and Parenthood from Midlife Onwards

Angelo Lorenti , Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Jessica Nisen, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Letizia Mencarini, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy
Mikko Myrskyla, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

In recent decades, progress in gender equality, including women's participation in the labor market, has stagnated. Concurrently, non-standard work arrangements, such as temporary contracts and part-time employment surged. Women, especially mothers, are more often engaged in non-standard jobs, characterized by its precarious nature due to instability and lack of labor protections. Research has primarily focused on mothers with young children, neglecting the impact of precarious work from midlife onward, and not distinguishing between parents and childless individuals. Our study examines the distribution of precarious work by gender and parenthood in midlife in Italy, a country with significant gender disparities in a dual labor market and minimal childcare support. Using data from the Survey on Household, Income, and Wealth we employ multistate life tables to estimate the accumulation of years in precarious employment from midlife onwards. Our findings indicate that Italian mothers not only work fewer years compared to men and childless women, but also spend a larger portion of their time in precarious employment. These disparities become even more pronounced when viewed relative to life expectancy decomposition across various labor force states. As the number of children increases for mothers, we observe a parallel increase in the years spent in joblessness, offset by a decrease in retirement years. This implies that mothers tend to have shorter working lives, spend more time in precarious employment, and difficulties in retiring due to fewer accumulated contributions. Men experience the opposite, with childless men having shorter working lives and limited retirement opportunities.

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 Presented in Session 112. Flash session Gender, Work and Parenthood