Unstable lives. Regulatory changes of the labour market and social mechanisms

The sociological literature has always paid great attention to the role of work in structuring the life courses of young people (Cavalli, 1980; Giddens, 1991; Blossfeld, 2011). The processes of renovation of the labor market of the last twenty years, consequence of regulatory changes in Europe (Fudge & Strauss, 2013; Elia, 2013), «did not deliver enough “good jobs” » (Schmid, 2015. 70), need an even more deep and accurate analysis of the contractual positions. This is true especially regarding the analysis of how the professional status (employed or unemployed) and the type of contract (stable in time or temporary) influence the empowerment process in the different institutional frameworks (Bertolini, Hofäcker & Torrioni, 2014). With the end of the old system of social security based on the role of the male breadwinner as head of a nuclear family and holder of the typical form of so-called “stable and employed work” (Jansen, 2011), the adaptability to the new labor market is leading to an ever more stringent process of individualization (Standing, 2014). How the young couples with unstable employment build the basis of their independent life together ? In an effort to explore this complexity, in this paper we try to shift the focus of the analysis from the simple comparison of the general conditions of young couples, to the differences emerging by comparing their situation to what we defined “dimensions of precariousness”. These are five different areas of insecurity - each distinct from the other - representing two possible threats to the creation and continuation of the daily life of the couple: working and occupational. The interviews conducted in our empirical research (Bronner, 2015), highlight the concerns for the renewal of the contract (Gallino, 2007), in the absence of a true realization, in Italy, of a social security system that gives the opportunity to live less harsh and uncertain transitions between different unstable employments.