Non-Standard Employment in Europe ― Paradigms, Prevalence and Policy Responses

'Non-standard' employment is becoming more common. Fewer people are working full-time and/or have permanent employment contracts; more are working part-time, have fixed-term contracts or are self-employed. Many scholars have pointed to the negative consequences of this development, including 'precarious' forms of employment and in-work poverty. This volume provides a thorough theoretical and empirical analysis of these processes by understanding the 'destandardization' of employment in Europe and the associated modifications in socio-economic regulation both at national and EU level. The book provides country studies of the UK, Spain, Germany, Poland, Croatia, and the Nordic countries and offers comparative European analyses of part-time and fixed-term employment in relation to in-work poverty, exclusion and anomie. Emphasis is on 'best practice' in the governance of non-standard employment. Is there evidence for a new and socially inclusive European employment standard?

Max Koch is Professor at the Department of Social Work and Social Welfare, Lund University, Sweden. His recent publications include Capitalism and Climate Change: Theoretical Discussion, Historical Development and Policy Responses and Diversity, Standardization and Social Transformation: Gender, Ethnicity and Inequality in Europe (co-edited with Lesley McMillan and Bram Peper).

Martin Fritz is Research Assistant at the EUROLAB, Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences in Cologne, Germany.