Objective precariousness affects 38.2% of the working population

The study shows that objective precariousness affects 38.2% of the working population surveyed. Low wages are the most widespread face of precariousness (37.7%). This wage precariousness reflects a broad problem of low income (below the equivalent of minimum wage for a full-time job), which affects approximately 1.4 million workers. The other key dimensions of objective precariousness are job discontinuity (17.5%) and contractual instability (14%).

These manifestations of job insecurity, which are highly correlated with each other, tend to accumulate in certain groups. In particular, young people and immigrants stand out: 39.3% of women under 30 suffer from job instability, and 25.4% of immigrants of non-EU origin experience job discontinuity. Although these groups also appear to be affected by low income (60.5% among women under 30 and 53.2% among those of non-EU origin), wage insecurity exceeds these groups and becomes cross-cutting, with a marked gender dimension: 48.4% of women in employment have a salary below the minimum wage compared to 28.5% of men. This difference is linked to gender inequalities in the distribution of working time and care responsibilities, as well as horizontal labour segregation, which directs many women to sectors and occupations where, even with full-time work, wages remain low.

Regarding subjective precariousness, that is, the perception of risk regarding continuity in the workplace, maintenance of conditions and/or continuity in the labour market in general, it is a topic affecting 17.4% of the population. In addition to representing a smaller proportion of the working population compared to objective precariousness, it presents a more diffused characterisation, which is not as clearly associated with certain sociodemographic characteristics.

The analysis delves into the lack of correspondence between objective and subjective precariousness, identifying four profiles that reflect the diversity of positions and experiences in the labour market in objective and subjective terms:

• Security (57.7%): workers in a more stable and consolidated situation, and who are confident about their position in the labour market. This corresponds to the most privileged social profile, middle-aged, with higher education levels, and a greater preponderance of men.
• Threat (10.1%): people with good conditions who, however, perceive insecurity at the possibility of experiencing a worsening of working conditions. They are usually qualified profiles who see a risk of worsening in a context of growing precariousness.
• Normalisation (25.5%): people with objective precariousness who do not perceive that their situation could worsen. They find themselves in situations marked by low wages, temporariness and discontinuity, but they are certain of continuing to find jobs with the same conditions. This profile concentrates young people, women and foreigners.
• Vulnerability (6.6%): people who accumulate both objective and subjective precariousness. It is also a feminised profile and with a notable presence of foreign people, with low levels of training and low-skilled jobs. These workers are the ones closest to labour exclusion.

The report provides useful empirical evidence to guide public policies that reduce job insecurity and job inequalities, as formulas for reducing social exclusion and inequalities. In this sense, the centrality of wage insecurity underlines the need for measures on income and working hours. Furthermore, the exploration of the diversity of ways of experiencing precariousness points to the need to intervene to prevent job segmentation from reproducing and consolidating the inequalities already existing within the Catalan society.