Changes in Household Employment Patterns and Social Impacts of the Economic Crisis

The proposed project explores the changes in paid work participation and their social impacts in a period of economic prosperity and one of economic insecurity and crisis since 2008. A central question concerns the ways in which the design of the national welfare state and the labour markets – exemplified by Austria and Denmark – shape employment integration and economic well-being. The project applies a household perspective to study the social impacts of the economic downturn. Drawing on the theoretical framework of transitional labour markets (TLM) linked with insights from the capabilities approach (CA), we investigate under which circumstances individuals are in paid full-time or part-time work, in unemployment or on leave for care reasons.