The continued increase of precariousness in working lives among young adults in Spain, 1987-2017

Abstract

Between the ages of 30 and 39, many people make important decisions for their lives, such as having children, getting married or settling down in long-term relationships. In Spain, the median age at first birth among women is 30.8, couples get married at 35 on average (35 years old among women and 37.7 among men), and sign a mortgage around 38. Therefore, from an aggregate point of view, all of society has something to win, or lose, depending on how their young adults do during these ages. However, evidence points to a consistent increase of precarious work over time and across generations, especially for women. Spain, together with Poland, recently recorded the highest percentage of temporary employment in Europe. Yet, no exact calculations on the duration of this type of work are available for Spain. This study aims to estimate the length of the time that Spaniards are expected to be engaged in temporary and insecure work during their thirties comparing 22 cohorts, given the importance of this age interval for our societies. We found that time spent in precarious employment doubled between 1987 and 2017 for men and women, and generations born in 1978 spent twice the time in insecure and temporary jobs than those born in 1957. More importantly, women are especially affected by these types of employment conditions, and higher education levels do not seem to protect them from lower quality jobs.