Labour Flexibility: Meanings and Consequences

Abstract

The objectives of the paper are 1) to analyse the effects of labour flexibility on individuals from a lifecourse perspective and 2) to know whether flexibility has undermined or reinforced the effects of social classes, education and gender on several aspects concerning the life-course, above all those related to employment in Spain. The peculiarity of the Spanish case lies in the proportion of fixed-term contracts. The greatest difference between these contracts and permanent contracts is not the job to be done, or even its temporary or permanent nature, but rather the lower layoff cost. The way that the Welfare State has introduced flexibilisation has achieved a balance of risks between the generations, so that there cannot be said to be clear winners or losers. The data indicate that the effects of flexibilisation on the main changes in the labour market and in demography are much more modest than what the hypotheses predict. Similarly, flexibilisation has not evened out the risks among the different social classes and educational levels, although it has not provoked an increase in inequality, either.