The labour market is exacerbating social inequalities among young people, according to a study published on Friday, which warns that the increase in qualifications is not having the expected social uplifting effect.
“The most worrying thing about this study is that highlights structural inequality among young peoplesuggesting that they stand out in the labor market depending on their class status,” argues ISCTE researcher Renato Miguel do Carmo, who coordinated the work.
It is based on their social status that young people “clearly experience” the world of work and exposure to “varying degrees” of unemployment, lack of social protection and job insecurity.
“Parents’ educational qualifications are attributes that not only generate social differentiation, but also produce high levels of inequality among young people,” states a presentation document of the study “Young people and work in Portugal – Inequalities, (lack of) protection and future”.
The majority of young people come from low-income families, especially from the interior of the country, is limited to “low-paid jobs and more precarious jobs”which makes them dependent on family and friends for longer.
Renato Miguel do Carmo, coordinator of the Observatory of Inequalities, points out that greater access to diplomas “has not broken the reproduction of the original social situation.”
The survey conducted by a team of researchers identified a high number of young people (63%) who experienced periods of unemployment without any social protection or institutional response.
The results have given rise to a book, to be published next week, which proposes two political lines to tackle the problems: “extending the welfare state to this segment of the population” and increasing wages and social protection in employment.
In addition to social origin, gender also marks entry into the labor market, with Women earn “significantly less than men”which means that many people need to have more than one job.
As a general rule, according to researchers, a bachelor earns more than a woman with a master’s degree or a doctorate.
“The labour market highlights the gender inequality that exists in Portugal, rewarding men with higher salaries, even compared to women with the same level of education,” says Inês Tavares, a researcher at ISCTE and co-author of the book, quoted in a statement.
In general terms, respondents who fit the “integrated and protected” profile live mostly in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (58%). Each territorial area loses weight as it moves away from the most urban territories and approaches the most peripheral ones.
For the researcher, the wage disparities and contractual and social protection asymmetries that the Portuguese labour market are producing “contribute to the increase and reproduction of various social inequalities”.
Speaking to Lusa, the study’s coordinator stressed that many young people have to “take up various activities” to earn a reasonable income and that gender inequalities remain “very marked”, even among the younger generations.
“Most young people who were unemployed were not receiving unemployment benefits. A political response is needed here,” he added, considering that the youngest are the ones who have suffered the most from the crisis.
Source: Observadora
