Job Insecurity, Flexibility and Home–Work Balance for Italian Couples in Non-standard Work: The Effect of Social Class

This article examines differences of non-standard employment among parenting couples on the basis of qualitative research carried out in Rome and Naples. Although there is a growing interest in Europe in issues of flexibility and job security, there has been little focus upon the social differences among non-standard workers. Social class differences are assumed to be represented by the polarization between protected and secure employees on the one hand and casual and unprotected ones on the other, as if the latter represented a homogeneous group of marginalized workers. The research presented here offers evidence about three types of social differences among Italian couples of non-standard workers: job insecurity, the impact of various types of work-flexibility, and the organization of home–work boundaries. These vary widely depending upon the content, technological organization and prestige of professional positions that non-standard workers hold. This paper shows how social and economic differences within the group of non-standard workers affect family life.