Phenomena of precarity among young graduates – Hungarian case study

ABSTRACT. In our study we analyse the risk factors of precarity among young graduates. We aim to explore the characteristics that can turn young graduates towards precarity. The position of young graduates is better on the labor market than that of job seekers with lower qualification. Nevertheless, there are some risk factors that can also affect young graduates, such as the uncertainty on the labor market, and the chance and danger of falling into precarity. In this paper, different interpretations of and approaches to precarity are validated as a theoretical framework, taking into account the main theories dealing with the concept of precarity and with precarity as a class. We focus on young graduates as a group at risk of precarity, and thus also analyse the theories dealing with their situation. Our empirical investigation tests the claims of the main theories. For this purpose, we conduct a secondary analysis of the 2018 database of the Graduate Tracking System based on the responses of 15 102 recent graduates. Studies show that the risk of precariousness in Hungary is mainly shaped by the level of education and the post-graduation job. However, since no similar empirical analysis has been conducted for the country, our study is exploratory in nature, which gives it both its value in terms of novelty and its limitations.