Temp work is on the rise, Europe is on the decline. The European dream died before it came to life.
"The 40-year-old Portuguese government worker lives from six-month contract to six-month contract, doing the same job every day but never sure of his future, and takes home just 1,200 euros ($1,500) a month. He would like to marry his girlfriend and have children, but he can't afford it. Unlike co-workers on permanent contracts, banks won't give him a mortgage.
"Everything in my life is on hold — starting a family, making long-term plans," Mendes says. "It's all very limiting and debilitating." Many workers across southern Europe are in the same boat as Mendes, trapped in poorly-paid, insecure jobs that are locking them out of a life they once felt entitled to. It's one of the legacies of the eurozone debt crisis, and it's the new normal.
Unemployment across the 19-country eurozone was at its lowest level in nearly nine years in December, at 8.7 percent, official figures showed Wednesday. The improvement from 9.7 percent a year earlier comes amid a strong economic growth rate of 2.5 percent last year.
The brightening figures conceal, however, a darker reality. Temporary, or fixed-term, contracts that give workers a short horizon of income security have increasingly become the norm since the Great Recession. The European Commission acknowledged last year that "the overall trend since 2006 indicates growing use of involuntary fixed-term contracts.""
Europe's rise in temporary work contracts puts lives on hold
"The 40-year-old Portuguese government worker lives from six-month contract to six-month contract, doing the same job every day but never sure of his future, and takes home just 1,200 euros ($1,500) a month. He would like to marry his girlfriend and have children, but he can't afford it. Unlike co-workers on permanent contracts, banks won't give him a mortgage.
"Everything in my life is on hold — starting a family, making long-term plans," Mendes says. "It's all very limiting and debilitating." Many workers across southern Europe are in the same boat as Mendes, trapped in poorly-paid, insecure jobs that are locking them out of a life they once felt entitled to. It's one of the legacies of the eurozone debt crisis, and it's the new normal.
Unemployment across the 19-country eurozone was at its lowest level in nearly nine years in December, at 8.7 percent, official figures showed Wednesday. The improvement from 9.7 percent a year earlier comes amid a strong economic growth rate of 2.5 percent last year.
The brightening figures conceal, however, a darker reality. Temporary, or fixed-term, contracts that give workers a short horizon of income security have increasingly become the norm since the Great Recession. The European Commission acknowledged last year that "the overall trend since 2006 indicates growing use of involuntary fixed-term contracts.""
Europe's rise in temporary work contracts puts lives on hold
