Discontinuity of income, welfare and access to credit: Models for social inclusion of atypical workers in Italy in the European context

Young people in European countries are facing increased insecurity on the labour market, given the widespreadness of flexibilisation process, having lost the safety net provided by welfare state that has characterized the generation of their parents. The way this process is enacted varies across countries: in literature is well know how institutional filters such as labour market regulation and welfare system mediate the impact of flexibilisation, shaping the opportunities context for individual decisions. This leads to consequences non only in the present, but also in the medium-term, shaping the opportunities and the representations of young people. In our paper we intend to consider in the institutional setting also the financial system. We take into account the level of inclusion of the banking system, with particular attention to the access to credit. We have focused the credit risk assessment models used by banks in a given system, and the way by which the type of contract is assessed in the different systems: while some country are more inclusive, other are characterized by denying the credit access to atypical workers. The possibilities to fall into debts, and specifically the devices proposed by banks to do it, are a factor that shape not only the opportunities, the strategies and the risk of vulnerability of young people facing job and income insecurity, but also their representations of opportunities and risks about their future. In this paper, the individual strategies, as well as individual meanings, feelings and representations are analysed with semi-structured interviews to 50 young people facing job insecurity in Italy, a country characterized by a low credit access. The analysis comes from Except project – Horizon 2020 program, lasting three years (2015-2018), aimed to highlight the point of view of young people who are experiencing precariousness.