Does the context matter? Labour market characteristics and job satisfaction among young European adults working on temporary contracts

Abstract

The main goal of this study is to gain a better understanding of the relationship between job satisfaction and temporary work among youth in the EU, while considering the role of the context of countries' labour market characteristics. To address this issue, we use the EU-SILC 2013 database, with an ad hoc module on well-being, which we supplement with macro indicators from Eurostat and ILO. Our findings show that a higher unemployment rate is associated with a lower job satisfaction among youth. Moreover, country-level variables moderate the negative impact of temporary work on the level of job satisfaction among young workers. The negative effect of temporary work is stronger in countries with a higher unemployment rate and a lower level of unionisation.