Precarization of social and labour relations in the Western Europe: gender aspect

The article deals with the gender aspects of labour relations precarization in the Western Europe on the basis of official statistical materials on the scale, dynamics, structure and reasons of the unstable employment. It is shown that the structure of part-time employment clearly has gender asymmetry, since there are almost three times more women than men in there. Analysis of the dominant reasons of the part-time work in Europe shows the persistence of gender stereotypes, when caring for children or incapacitated adults makes women to give up full-fledged employment. The gender structure of the group of Western European citizens, who work on temporary contracts, is relatively balanced. The authors believe that unemployment is the main reason of the temporary character of contracts concluded with both men and women.