Youths and atypical work in Italy: the uneven path to occupational stability

The paper presents the characteristics of atypical work in Italy and the theoretical basis of a sociological research, currently in progress, aiming to study the positive or negative consequences of working under non standard employment contracts in order to get to a permanent job position in the service sector.
At first, a definition will be offered of what “non standard” work is, stressing the differences among its different forms with regard to legal regulations and utilization purposes by private and public organizations. These differences will be considered also in a territorial perspective.
A second analysis will be carried out from the point of view of the individual worker, to study the career paths in which the modalities of atypical work are included and the patterns of their development. In particular the hypothesis of their effectiveness, especially for the youths, to enter successfully the labour market will be discussed.
Finally, the structure of the research will be presented.