A study on occupational mobility in 22 European countries reveals major differences in job stability, influenced by country, gender, health, and income.
In a new study for the Mapineq project, I have explored occupational mobility across 22 European countries. The research, which examines how individuals change occupations during their prime working years, is based on data from the European Union Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC) from 2011 to 2019. The study focuses on the stability of individuals’ occupations, measured by their main occupational class over a four-year period.
The findings indicate substantial differences in occupational stability across the countries studied. For example, Belgium and Austria showed the highest mobility, while Romania and Cyprus exhibited the lowest. While many individuals changed occupation, the majority of those who moved did so only once during the four-year period.
The likelihood of staying in the same occupation also varied considerably according to individuals’ characteristics. Concretely, results suggest that mobility varied by gender, although the variation across countries was more significant than the variation between genders. Women and individuals with health limitations, and those living in rural areas, tended to have lower occupational mobility, and this was also true when these factors intersected. For example, women with health limitations tend to be less mobile than men with similar health issues.
Those who are married or cohabiting tend to have greater occupational stability. People in the lowest income quartile are more likely to experience mobility, while those in the highest quartile tend to have less mobility. There was not much difference in mobility between those with temporary and permanent contracts, except in a few countries. Finally, I have found that occupational mobility changed little over time, with some exceptions, such as Spain, which showed more persistence in 2016 than in 2011.
Read the full text:
https://mapineq.eu/intra-generational-occupational-mobility-in-prime-age/