The impact of labour market flexibilisation on the first transition to adult life in different welfare states: does contractual stability matter?

This paper examines the heterogeneity of the impact of labour market attachment on the transition to adult life, in particular on the first transition leaving home, comparatively in Italy, France and Germany. Several authors have emphasized the central role that employment status plays in structuring the life course: one consequence for young adults remaining in temporary jobs is the postponement of important decisions in their private lives; whereas the length of postponement depends on institutional context. Less attention has been paid to the analysis of education-specific patterns in the effects of employment precariousness on individual decision-making. The paper aims to fill this gap by analysing whether and how employment status (employed/unemployed) as well as the type of contract(fixed-term/permanent)influences the first transition of leaving the parental home, and how this effect varies according to level of education in three different institutional context. For this purpose, the paper combines data from the European Labour Force Survey with qualitative studies, based on interviews and focus groups with people aged 20-45 to highlight the mechanism at the base of young peoples’ decisions.