Forze lavoro deboli

Among the main labour market indicators analysed in the European Labour Force survey we can observe not only the employed, the unemployed and inactive people (students, retirees, unable to work and people declaring to be unavailable to work), but also people who are available to work but who are not actively looking for a job. The so-called “discouraged” workers. The Italian labour force is characterized by strong elements of weakness: by a female employment rate lower than the European average, by an historical persistence of youth unemployment, both based on a strong territorial dispersion of job opportunities. This elements influence also the level of participation in the labour market and thus the number of “discouraged” workers. In the European comparison Italy ranks on the one hand among countries in stronger territorial employment and unemployment rates dispersion, and on the other hand it has one of the highest percentages of discouraged workers.The discouraged workers’ phenomenon has a long tradition of studies in the social sciences and its dynamics are generally associated with economic cycles.The most recent studies have validated this interpretation highlighting the strong relevance of job opportunities individual perception as a determinant in influencing the active participation in the labour force. In this paper we will try to analyse what individual characteristics (sex, age, marital status, level of education, previous work experience and job search channels) affect the propensity to become discouraged. We will analyze (using some logistic models) the data from the labour force survey at three points in time: 2007 (before the crisis), 2011 (four years after the start of the crisis), 2015 (to observe the current situation). This to understand the effect of the crisis on the propensity to become discouraged