ABSTRACT
The term ‘precariousness’ (‘précarité’) is extensively used in research and in policy arenas in France, but the issue of definition and content remains controversial, including among feminist academics who highlight the over-representation of women in precarious employment (discussed in the first section below). Fixedterm contracts are the main form of precarious employment, but other forms are developing – in particular temporary agency work and involuntary part-time work – in part shaped by policies and employment-related regulations (discussed in the second section). Policy responses to precarious employment and its consequences for the quality of employment and workers’ quality of life have not yet produced tangible outcomes. How to limit the growing insecurity in the labour market and how to reconcile companies’ needs for flexibility with employees’ needs for security remain major challenges for policies in France (discussed in the third section). The path of reforms currently underway seems to point to a French way towards ‘flexicurity’.
