Job insecurity and mental health in Italy: notes for Further Research.

In the last four decades, the problem of youth unemployment has become central in many Southern European countries. In Italy, for example, as consequences of the several economic downturns - started at the beginning of 1990s - the causes of high young unemployment have been studied extensively. To mitigate youth unemployment problem, scholars and policymakers have suggested the necessity of introducing flexibility measures in the labour market – mainly through the progressive elimination of workers’ rights and the implementation of atypical job contracts - for improving youth employment performance. However, these reforms have increased the job insecurity of young people, who see their future even more uncertain. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate about the likely relation between increase of job insecurity and mental health of young in Italy. To be more specific, we intend to analyze - from a theoretical point of view - as higher labour market flexibility leads to a set of negative social and psychological consequences that cannot be neglected.