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Work in Transition: Labour Market Life Expectancy and Years Spent in Precarious Employment in Spain 1986–2016

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Abstract

In this paper, we measure the number of years that men and women have been expected to spend in the labour market at age 16 and at age 50 during the period 1986–2016. The objective is twofold. First, we show the change in active years during these three decades, and calculate the gender gap in the time spent in different work statutes (active/inactive, employed/unemployed). Second, we examine the increased prevalence of precarious employment conditions over time. Precarious work is measured through a multidimensional indicator using the Spanish Labour Force Survey. We combined this dataset with registered population data to calculate life expectancy in the labour market, and found that the gender gap in employment has largely reduced due to women’s increased activity. Women have gained 13.6 years of employment during the period considered here, while men lost almost 5 years. In addition, precarious forms of working lives have been growing extensively, and have especially affected younger cohorts, drawing a clear trend towards a dual labour market. In addition, women have spent more time in precarious employment than men at all ages, indicating that most of the growth in females’ employment has been under precarious job conditions.

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Fig. 1

Source: LFS-INE 1986–2016

Fig. 2

Source: SLFS, 2nd Quarters and INE 1986–2016

Fig. 3

Source: SLFS, 2nd Quarters and INE 1986–2016

Fig. 4

Source: SLFS, 2nd Quarters and INE 1986–2016

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Notes

  1. Second quarter were selected because they tend to be less affected by seasoning employment. In addition, past studies have followed this strategy, and it allowed us the comparison of results. For example, Stanek and Requena (2018).

  2. The loss of 9543 cases is mainly due to the exclusion of those who reported being in the military service during the week of the interview. Compulsory military service was abolished in 2001. These cases are distributed across the years in the following way: during the period 1986–1989, the percentage was 30.6 out of the 100% cases that were in military services throughout the whole period studied, then turned to 59.2 during the 90s, and finally in 2000 the percentage was 0.8. The reason to exclude these cases lie in the fact that respondents were not later asked about employment conditions.

  3. We assigned 0.5 to these cases, rather than 0, because part-time jobs imply lower wages than full-time.

  4. We also tested the reliability of the indicator using Cronbach’s alpha. We performed it for every year, and it was steady around 0.6.

  5. The early 1990s recession affecting much of the Western world hit Spain in 1993. Unemployment went down from 16 to 24%. In 1995, signs of recovering were recorded and by 1997 the economy started to grow again.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge funding from Ramon Areces Foundations and the research project “La sostenibilidad de las pensiones desde una perspectiva demográfica: El aumento de la actividad laboural femenina y la mejora de la relación contribuyentes/pensionistas”; the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness “Juan de la Cierva” Research Grant Programs (JdlC-I-2014-21178 and JdlC-I-2016-30557); and support from the CSO2016-77449-R R+D project; and CERCA Programme Generalitat de Catalunya.

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  1. Centre d’Estudis Demogràfics, Barcelona, Spain

    Mariona Lozano

  2. Centre d’Estudis Demogràics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, C/ca n’Altayó, E2, 08193, Bellaterra, Spain

    Elisenda Rentería

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  1. Mariona Lozano
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Correspondence to Mariona Lozano.

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Lozano, M., Rentería, E. Work in Transition: Labour Market Life Expectancy and Years Spent in Precarious Employment in Spain 1986–2016. Soc Indic Res 145, 185–200 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02091-2

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