Theories

Combining different kinds of work

In this project, we take a broad view of work. It should include a variety of different kinds of paid work including casual and occasional work, work at home, work abroad and work in the workplace. It should also include unpaid work, such as that done for civil society organisations, for neighbours or friends and as part of the management of daily life in the household. Such varieties of work are important in all European societies and should be considered in combination. However, in Central and Eastern European societies it was common to grow vegetables and keep animals for food or for exchanging with others as part of the self-provisioning informal economy. By considering how all these different kinds of work are combined, we can better understand the implications of different employment regimes for households.

Flexibility

By flexibility, we understand flexibility of time, place and conditions. Flexibility of time means the different hours and days that it is possible to work and here we contrast regular and irregular hours. Flexibility of place means the actual place where the work is carried out, which could be at home, at a work place, abroad or always changing. Flexibility of conditions means the kinds of contracts which people might hold and these could be fixed term, paid by the day, long term or permanent. The project tries to consider the impact of these different kinds of flexibility upon the individual worker and upon the households in which they live.

Household members

The project considers the role of different household members in getting the work done and how these might interact. Of course, some people will be living alone, but most people in Europe live in some sort of household and therefore we need to consider the gender and generational divisions of labour between them.

Attitudes to work and family

The research elucidates not only the patterns of work and household but also the attitudes that respondents may hold towards the time, place and conditions of their work on the one hand and towards the combination of household and work on the other. In particular, we are interested in whether flexible work engenders stress or greater opportunities for individuals - is it positive or negative in its oucomes?

Policies, households and work

The research considers the role of labour market and social policies in different countries in order to understand what impact they might have on flexibility, households and work. The countries chosen for this comparative study exhibit different forms of flexibility and a range of different policies associated with it. In particular, we were concerned to compare the new accession countries of Eastern and Central Europe with Western European countries that are more established members of the European Union. The different histories, economies and forms of social organisation in these different contexts may help us to understand factors that could lead to positive forms of flexibility and ones that might lead to more negative outcomes for households and individuals. Thus, the project seeks to combine the macro-level trends and policies with their impact at a micro level on households and individuals.

Implications

The fragmentation of labour markets has been a feature of all contemporary societies in both Eastern and Western Europe. Flexibility is often seen as a necessary and desirable element of change, especially in the post-communist countries and is even included in packages of reform. Flexibility can mean the opportunity to work different hours in different places but it also associated with declining employment conditions and the erosion of security. In some countries it is associated with developments in the informal economy. But what is the impact of such changes on households and individuals? Are they prepared to change? Do they want to change? What impact does it have on male and female family members, on young and old family members and on the way that household work gets done? Does increasing flexibility lead to less preparedness to do voluntary work as people find themselves with less time and security, so that civil society is actually undermined by such developments? Or is civil society strengthened by such developments as people have more time to devote to other activities? Does flexibility mean that people now have to do three different jobs to earn their living where in the past they might have done only one? Who controls flexible employment and how are terms and conditions negotiated between contractors, employers and employees? These are still open questions and ones that can be investigated by comparing different countries and different groups of workers within countries.

An important theme emerging in contemporary societies is the how households combine work with family life and with their different responsibilities to one another. With large numbers of women working in the formal labour market as well as in the domestic sphere, flexibility offers the possibility of more options for combining roles on the one hand, but also the possibility of more stress as partners run from one job to another and their sense of security is eroded. The extent to which this can be a positive challenge or a negative outcome of labour market and gender-work changes are explored in the project.