Seminar, 30 hours/M.A. level
The seminar offers a comprehensive understanding of in-work poverty in Europe. Working poor are individuals who are gainfully employed, but their salary or their household income is below the poverty threshold. Therefore, in-work poverty arises at intersection of labor market and poverty dynamics. On the one hand, individual resources are related to the likelihood of experiencing unfavourable labor market arrangements leading to poverty (e.g. low-wage or temporary contracts). On the other hand, specific family structure or family-life-course transitions are associated with different levels of households’ economic wellbeing. The seminar will examine how in-work poverty became a critical issue in the US first, and in Europe later. We will then discuss the theoretical and methodological challenges of defining and measuring in-work poverty. The prevalence of working poor over time and for specific social groups will be considered across welfare and labor market regimes. In a life-course perspective, special attention will be devoted to the generational and gender cleavages. Finally, implications for policies against in-work poverty will be discussed in light of both individual and household definitions.
