Does Atypical Employment Come in Couples? Evidence from European Countries

The literature on atypical employment has largely focused on the individual level. This paper provides a novel account of the dynamics of atypical employment, specifically part-time and temporary employment, within couples. Analyzing a sample of 29 European countries using 2016 EU-SILC data, it investigates the association between partner and own atypical employment. The results show that temporary employment does come in couples, in that partner temporary employment is associated with a higher likelihood of own temporary employment. A significant portion of this result is driven by individuals with partners in temporary employment themselves exhibiting characteristics predisposing them to temporary employment. These results are largely consistent across Europe. Accumulation of part-time employment is also observed, albeit at a smaller scale. However, it occurs at the two extremes of the income distribution only, among very low-earning and very high-earning couples. In contrast, in the middle of the income distribution, there is no association between partner and own part-time employment, which is more consistent with classic household specialization patterns. An association between partner and own part-time employment is only found in a minority of European countries, most systematically in Northern and Western Europe, but also in some Southern and Eastern European countries.