Labor Market Deregulation & In-Work Poverty: Considerations on the Future of Social Policy

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Published: Jun 30, 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/hapscpbs.27655
Keywords:
Labor market deregulation flexibility in-work poverty part-time employment temporal contracts non-standard employment social policy social protection welfare state
Dimitris Kastanos
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; HAPSc Committee on Political Economy
Abstract

Over the past few decades, labor market deregulation has dominated the policymaking agenda. These practices entailed, among others, easing the regulatory framework for employment protection, weakening collective bargaining institutions and promoting non-standard forms of employment as a means to achieve the desired degree of flexibility. Meanwhile, conventional analyses failed to investigate the correlation between deregulation and in-work poverty. In fact, poverty was examined exclusively as a consequence of unemployment, thus obscuring its multidimensional nature. This policy brief aims to present the core arguments for and against deregulation, as well as to provide a literature review on the relation between deregulation and in-work poverty. Finally, some remarks are made on the urgent need for change in the orientation of policymaking in a post-covid era.

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Author Biography
Dimitris Kastanos, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; HAPSc Committee on Political Economy

Department of Economics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; HAPSc Committee on Political Economy

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