The growth in part-time employment has been one of the most striking features in industrialized economies over the past forty years. This work discusses the controversial debates surrounding the subject - is part-time work better than unemployment or is social welfare a disincentive to taking up part-time work, is this kind of work becoming an increasingly normal part of most people's working lives, or does it remain a female ghetto of low pay, low pensions and low labour standards. The book presents a systematically comparative analysis of the common and divergent patterns in the use of part-time work in Europe, America and the Pacific Rim. It brings together sociologists and economists in this wide-ranging and comprehensive survey, tackling such areas as gender issues, ethnic questions and the differences between certain national economies.

The growth in part-time employment has been one of the most striking features in industrialized economies over the past forty years. Part-Time Prospects presents for the first time a systematically comparative analysis of the common and divergent patterns in the use of part-time work in Europe, America and the Pacific Rim. It brings together sociologists and economists in this wide-ranging and comprehensive survey. It tackles such areas as gender issues, ethnic questions and the differences between certain national economies including low pay, pensions and labour standards.

Exacerbated by the Great Recession, youth transitions to employment and adulthood have become increasingly protracted, precarious, and differentiated by gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Youth Labor in Transition examines young people's integration into employment, alongside the decisions and consequences of migrating to find work and later returning home. The authors identify key policy challenges for the future related to NEETS, overeducation, self-employment, and ethnic differences in outcomes. This illustrates the need to encompass a wider understanding of youth employment and job insecurity by including an analysis of economic production and how it relates to social reproduction of labor if policy intervention is to be effective. The mapping and extensive analysis in this book are the result of a 31/2-year, European Union-funded research project (Strategic Transitions for Youth Labour in Europe, or STYLE; http://www.style-research.eu) coordinated by Jacqueline O'Reilly. With an overall budget of just under 5 million euros and involving 25 research partners; an international advisory network and local advisory boards of employers, unions, and policymakers; and non-governmental organizations from more than 20 European countries, STYLE is one of the largest European Commission-funded research projects to exist on this topic. Consequently, this book will appeal to an array of audiences, including academic and policy researchers in sociology, political science, economics, management studies, and more particular labor market and social policy; policy communities; and bachelor's- and master's-level students in courses on European studies or any of the aforementioned subject areas.

After the financial crisis of 2008 youth unemployment soared across Europe, leaving a generation of highly qualified young people frustrated in their search for secure, meaningful work. With contributions from over 90 authors and more than 60 individual contributions this collection summarises the findings of a large-scale EU funding project on Strategic Transitions for Youth Labour in Europe (STYLE). Including the often overlooked and unheard voices of young people themselves, this eclectic range of contributions discuss the distinctive characteristics of the current phase of youth employment. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the causes of European youth unemployment and assesses the effectiveness of labour market policies across the region.

Shining a light on the very different experiences of work in the digital age, this book provides a unique contribution to the reform discussion on the consequences of the fourth industrial revolution. Drawing on a wide range of international expertise, contributors examine important policy challenges arising from the transformation of work as a result of the introduction of digital technology at work. Authors in this volume discuss the effects of automation, platform business models, stagnating productivity, increasing regional disparities, and rising levels of inequality within and between countries. They consider how to unlock the vast economic and social potential of new technologies and the implications for policy reform to meet these challenges. Mastering them requires developing a new inclusive narrative and progressive reform agenda. Such an agenda would be economic and political, and not determined universally by technology. The narrative is not only about what policymakers need to do, which is rather a lot. It is also about reforming established organisations and institutions, understanding new emerging players and supporting disaffected citizens in how the effects of these changes are going to affect their lives. The authors clearly pinpoint what needs to be done to support the transition to work in the digital era.