Double invisibility: the effects of hidden unemployment on vulnerable populations in southern European countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis has been characterised by an increased fragility of the labour market, especially in the Southern European countries. Nevertheless, official data do not accurately capture the real upheavals of their labour markets. In this context, this paper compares the labour market performance of vulnerable populations (youth, women and migrants) in three Southern European countries with a cross-analysis of data over time. To this end, we have developed an alternative hidden unemployment indicator that recovers and includes unemployed persons from the categories of involuntary underemployment and inactivity. Our analyses include data from Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and take the European Union-Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) as their basis. Our results show that the impact of unemployment in the South of Europe is best measured when using an extended indicator, particularly when analysing the cases of vulnerable collectives. This tool shows great analytical potential for unveiling hidden unemployment in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.