Low-wage service occupations in Europe: an inevitable underclass?

NEUJOBS Working Paper 3.7 by Moira Nelson (Lund University) published by the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (March 2013)

Abstract

Low-wage service occupations occupy an important part of the employment structure of post-industrial labour markets and this transformation raises alarms about inequality since employment in such occupations arguably depends on weak working conditions.

This study examines trends in low-wage service employment across 19 European countries between 1992 and 2010 in order to get leverage on whether their expansion and poor quality are both as inevitable and inter-related as the literature suggests.

Full text (PDF 26pp)

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