Discontinuity of income, welfare and access to credit: Models for social inclusion of atypical workers in Italy in the European context

Young people in European countries are facing increased insecurity onthe labour market, given the widespreadness of flexibilisation process, having lost thesafety net provided by welfare state that has characterized the generation of theirparents. The way this process is enacted varies across countries: in literature is wellknow how institutional filters such as labour market regulation and welfare systemmediate the impact of flexibilisation, shaping the opportunities context for individualdecisions. This leads to consequences non only in the present, but also in the mediumterm,shaping the opportunities and the representations of young people. In our paperwe intend to consider in the institutional setting also the financial system. We takeinto account the level of inclusion of the banking system, with particular attentionto the access to credit. We have focused the credit risk assessment models used bybanks in a given system, and the way by which the type of contract is assessed inthe different systems: while some country are more inclusive, other are characterizedby denying the credit access to atypical workers. The possibilities to fall into debts,and specifically the devices proposed by banks to do it, are a factor that shape notonly the opportunities, the strategies and the risk of vulnerability of young peoplefacing job and income insecurity, but also their representations of opportunities andrisks about their future. In this paper, the individual strategies, as well as individualmeanings, feelings and representations are analysed with semi-structured interviewsto 50 young people facing job insecurity in Italy, a country characterized by a lowcredit access. The analysis comes from Except project – Horizon 2020 program, lastingthree years (2015-2018), aimed to highlight the point of view of young peoplewho are experiencing precariousness.