ETUI Konferenz "Getting europe back to work: Alternatives to
Austerity"
Brussels
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Panel labour market: The myth of success from labour-market
deregulation: what lessons from Germany and Poland?
Prof. Klaus Dörre, Department of Sociology November 6, 2013
Brussels
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I. Definition of Precarity
II. Some Trends
III. Subjective Dimensions
IV. Conclusions
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Employment is precarious if it does not permanently allow for subsistence above a certain cultural, socially defined, level. Employment of this kind does discriminate because it does not allow employees to unfold their potential at work, work is not gainful, and it is employment not held in high esteem by society. It has a lasting discriminatory effect as it negatively impacts on social integration, options for political participation and the capacity to plan one‘ life. Precarious work and its social constitution mean that those in precarious employment fall below standard levels of protection and integration as commonly defined in welfare states. At the level of subjective experience, precarious employment and/or work evoke feelings of meaninglessness and disdain (Castel/Dörre 2009: 17).
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I. Definition of Precarity
II. Some Trends
Precarity in Germany
Already before the crisis, the segment of non-standardised employment relationships (part-time, temporary work, fixed-term jobs and marginal employment) was growing continuously.
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II. Some Trends
Number of people in standard employment relationships
Number of people in atypical employment relationships
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Extent of Precarity
Part-time Work (up to 20hrs.)
Mikrozensus, Sample conducted by the Federal Statistical Office
Marginal Employment (i.e. low income and/or very short term employment)
Fixed term employment
Temporary agency work
1) Multiple answers possible
2) 1997 estimate by the Federal Labour Agency
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Mikrozensus, Sample conducted by the Federal Statistical Office
Male Female
1) Multiple answers possible
Part-time Work (up to 20hrs.) 1)
Marginal Employment (i.e. low income and/or very short term employment)
Fixed term Employment 1)
Temporary agency work 1)Total
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Aged between…
Mikrozensus, Sample conducted by the Federal Statistical Office
Percentage of low wage employees in Germany, East-West Germany, 1995-2010
Source: SOEP 2010, IAQ-Calculations
standardized low wage limit
East-West-Germany differentiatet
Source: Vorgänge; Abbildung 3
Further analyses have show that extremely low hourly wages are much more widespread in Eastern Germany. In 2008, about one in eight employees (12.8%) earned less than 6 € per hour, compared to 5.4% in Western Germany. Obviosly, extremely low wages are not just an Eastern phenomenon. (Kalina/Weinkopf 2010)
Hourly wage Total Percentage
Less than 5 €
Less than 6 €
Less than 7 €
Less than 8 €
Less than 8,50 €
More than 8,50 €
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Entry(seasonally adjusted)
Entry(raw value)
Stock(raw value)
Stock(seasonally adjusted)
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(1)The more difficult the task of placing someone in work becomes, the stronger the tendency is for case managers to blame the unemployed 'client' (delegation of responsibility).
III. Subjective Dimensions
(2) The vast majority of unemployed and precariously employed proactively makes a great effort to end their status of being benefit recipients (active without activation).
Fig. 8: structure of basic types
occu
patio
nal c
once
pt
normative employment orientation
Processing mode
workers-at-any-cost tireless job seeking
As-if-workers
re-interpretation, re-framing
non-workers rejection of the norm of employment
Fig. 9: the subtypes
subtypes (differentiated according to anticipated chances and experiences of employment)
workers-at-any-cost promising candidateswithout any alternative
as-if-workers pseudo-regular employedvolunteer work
non-workers aimlessresigned-reconciled
(3) Most respondents do not manage to enter regular employment; instead, what we are seeing is circular mobility.
(4) The longer one receives benefits, the greater the pressure becomes to develop a habitus of survival that in turn sets the affected apart from the rest of society.
(5) The interviewed benefit recipients consider themselves to be members of a stigmatised minority who are forced to do whatever they can to establish or maintain a connection to social normality.
(6) The logic of Hartz IV requires abandoning certain aspirations concerning the quality of work and life – aspirations which in fact could motivate increased proactivity (Passivation through lowering of standards).
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IV. Conclusions
typology of how individuals handle and cope with precarious work and employment
Fig. 7: Indicators for exclusive Solidarity I
Agreement Undecided Rejection
The socially weak nowa-days have a stronger lobby than the top performers in society
A society that takes care of everyone is not viable
I consider Hartz IV to be a cruel social policy
Fig. 8: Indicators for exclusive Solidarity II
Agreement Undecided Rejection
Labour market reforms were necessary in order to reduce the number of unemployed
Hartz IV does not lead to less unemployed, but to the disciplining of working people who fear stigmatisation
Greater pressure should be exerted on the unemployed
Dörre, Klaus/Scherschel, Karin/Booth, Melanie/Haubner, Tine/Marquardsen, Kai/Schierhorn, Karen (2013): Bewährungsproben für die Unterschicht? Soziale Folgen aktivierender Arbeitsmarktpolitik. Erschienen in der Reihe International Labour Studies - Internationale Arbeitsstudien, Band 3. Frankfurt am Main/New York: Campus.