A Precarious Ireland dual Labour Markets

8/13/2019 A Precarious Ireland dual Labour Markets

1/18

A Precarious Ireland:

Dual Labour Markets & Social Protection

NERI Labour Market Conference 1stMay 2013

Dr. Mary Murphy & Camille Loftus


2/18

Structural change

Structural changes arising from crisis

Not only austerity and distributional

inequality/poverty Interface between production or employment

regimes and social policies

Institutional reconfiguration of income support,labour law and activation policy can promote

or constrain labour market precarity


3/18

The problem of precarious work

Precariouswork

Low pay

Part-timework

Flexible

hours

Little

upskilling

Ease of

hiring &firing

Reducedsocial

security


4/18

Irish labour market

Growth in part-time, temporary, casualisation

Significant increase in under-employment Part-time flexibility to meet employer, rather

than employee needs

High level of low pay


5/18

Growth in part-time

Growth in part-time work & involuntary part-time

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Q405

Q406

Q407

Q408

Q409

Q410

Q411

Q412

Male % PT Female % PT All % PT

15%

25%

35%

45%

55%

Q308

Q109

Q309

Q110

Q310

Q111

Q311

Q112

Q312

Male Female All

CSO QNHS Q4 2012


6/18

Ireland: a low pay economy

Incidence of low pay, 2010 A fifth of

workers in

Ireland

earn low

pay

Men:

16.9% Women:

24.5%

OECD: Incidence of low pay, 2010

20.1%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Belgium

Portugal

Italy

Greece

Japan

Australia

Germany

SlovakRep.

UK

Canada

USA


7/18


8/18

Ireland: a flexible employment regime

USA

CanadaUKNZ

SouthAfrica

Australia

Ireland

Japan

Switzerland

RussianFed.

Israel

Denmark

Chile

Sweden

Iceland

Hungary

SlovakRep.

Korea

Netherlands

OECD

Brazil

Finland

CzechRep

Estonia

Poland

AustriaItaly

Belgium

Germany

India

Norway

Slovenia

China

Greece

France

Indonesia

Portugal

Spain

Mexico

Luxembourg

Turkey

OECD: Strictness of employment protection legislation index, 2008


9/18

Case study: retail sector in Ireland

Prevalence of part-time working

High degree of working time flexibility

Strong (unmet) desire to work longer hours

Flexibility makes it more difficult to:

Access social protection Secure additional employment


10/18

Precarious retail work

No. of hours worked Changes to working hours

Working time flexibility is

higher for PT workers

56% of employees surveyed

had part-time contracts

At least

monthly

45%

Every 2-

6 mths

9%Every 1-

3 yrs

7%

Less

often

7%

Never

32%

Up to 19

23%

19-21

29%

21-28

27%28-37

18%

37+

3%

B&A Survey of Mandate members


11/18

Impact of working time flexibility

Number of hours

A third have had

changes in the numberof hours they work

For 33%, made it harder

to claim social welfare


to find additional work

Number of days

29% have had changes

in the number of daysthey work


to claim social welfare


to find additional work



12/18

Reduced working hours

Hours lost, hours wanted

Part-time: strong demand

for more hours

Securing additional hours

Students more likely to get

extra hours than part-timers

42%52%

23%

27%27%

19%

31%21%

57%

Yr. ago Now Want

Up to 21 21 up to 28 28+


24% 28%

27% 15%

Part time Student

Requested & denied more hours

Requested & received more hours


13/18

Social protection

SWAP Particularly affects lone parents, reducing WTW

outcomes

Changes to Jobseeker payments exclude precarity

In work benefits Not flexible or adequate

Administratively cumbersome

Precarious social protection

Ambiguous: both increased subsidisation andincreased exclusion

Activation: insufficient safeguards re qualitytrainingor employment


14/18


15/18

Impact of SWAP: lone parent

Replacement rates Effective marginal tax rates

30%40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

550

600

gross weekly earnings

OFP SWAP

-100%

-50%

0%

50%

100%

150%

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

550

600

gross weekly earnings

OFP SWAP


16/18

Changes to Jobseekers Benefit

Condition Was Now Change

Qualifying:no. ofsocial insurancecontributions

No. paid since firststarted working

52 104

Budget 09No. contributions inrelevant tax year

Paid orcredited

Min 13 paid

Duration:no.contributions paid

260 or more 15 months 9 months Budget 09

Budget 13Less than 260 12 months 6 months

Entitlement to afull payment:

determined byaverage earnings

Rate of payment Earnings band

Budget 09

45%


17/18

Activation

Increased focus on activation and sanctions Intreo: make quarterly sanctions report to Troika

Lone parents with youngest child 7+ (2015) .... disabilityand qualified adults

Question of relationship between Increased activation

Decreased social protection

Growth of atypical work

Question of safeguards: How can EPL limit atypical work?

How can social protection protect from being forced intoand/or trapped in such work?


18/18

Tackling the precarity trap

Reconsidering regulatory flexibility

Financial incentives

Flexibility

trap

Recognising reality of precarious work

More flexible in-work benefit

Issue of sanctions and safeguards

Income

trap

Retraining & upskilling focused on needs of precariousworkers

Low skill

trap

Documents

A Precarious Ireland dual Labour Markets