30206

SoSe 20: In-work poverty in Europe and the US

Emanuela Struffolino

Information for students

Important: This course will take place as an Online-Course. It will be taught using both synchronous and asynchronous teaching formats.
Detailed information will be made available by the lecturer via Blackboard after the enrollment on Campus Management.
If you don’t have access to Campus Management or Blackboard but want to partake in the course, please write an e-mail to the lecturer.
Current Information about changes related to COVID-19 can be viewed at the Institute’s Website. close

Comments

Working poor are individuals who are gainfully employed, but their household income is below the poverty threshold. Therefore, in-work poverty arises at intersection of labour market and family dynamics: on the one hand, individual resources are related to the likelihood of experiencing unfavourable labour market arrangements leading to poverty (e.g. low-wage or temporary contracts); on the other hand, specific family structure or family-life-course transitions (e.g., the birth of a child or divorce) are associated with different levels of households’ economic wellbeing. The seminar will examine how and why in-work poverty became a critical issue in the US and in Europe. The aim is to offers a comprehensive understanding of in-work poverty by, first, discussing the theoretical and methodological challenges of defining and measuring it. Second, we will consider the prevalence of working poor over time and across specific social groups will in different welfare and labor market regimes. Finally, we will discuss the implications of the characteristics of in-work poverty across countries for policy design. close