HEALFAM researcher Jonas Voßemer organized the ECSR funded workshop

“Labor Market Insecurity and Health of Family Members”

Jonas Voßemer, together with Sonja Scheuring (University of Bamberg) from the ERC project SECCOPA, organized the workshop “Labor Market Insecurity and Health of Family Members”. The workshop was funded by the European Consortium for Sociological Research (ECSR) and took place from 14 to 17 November 2019 at the University of Bamberg. The workshop counted 14 participants from six universities across Europe and a total of seven presentations were given. It had two main objectives: The short-term goal was to advance an international collaboration between three junior researchers: Giulia Tattarini (WZB Berlin Social Science Center), Sonja Scheuring, and Jonas Voßemer. The long-term goal was to lay the foundation for a research network of junior and senior sociologists interested in the interplay of labor markets, families, and health. For this reason, two external experts (Veerle Buffel, University of Antwerp; Anna Kiersztyn, University of Warsaw) were invited and the workshop was also open for other researchers as well as students.

On the first day of the workshop, the participants presented their own work in order to introduce each other. Jonas Voßemer gave a talk on “What explains the negative effect of unemployment on the well-being of partners?” He received valuable feedback and exchanged ideas on further research. On the second day of the workshop, joint projects of Anna Baranowska-Rataj, Sonja Scheuring, Giulia Tattarini, and Jonas Voßemer were presented. First, Sonja Scheuring gave a talk on “Job (In)Security and Well-Being within Couples: A Panel Data Analysis for East and West Germany”. This paper examines whether there are spillover effects of temporary employment on the well-being for the German context. Afterwards, Giulia Tattarini and Anna Baranowska-Rataj presented on “The spillover effect of unemployment on partner's well-being: Does the division of unpaid work within the couple moderate the relationship?” This research investigates how the spillover effects of unemployment on partner’s well-being depend on couples’ arrangements concerning unpaid work. We were very happy to receive detailed and valuable feedback from Anna Kiersztyn and Veerle Buffel as well as from all other participants. Their comments will help to further develop our research.

The workshop organizers would like to thank the ECSR for providing the opportunity to hold this workshop. It not only supported the joint work of junior scholars from different ECSR member institutions, but also allowed to lay the foundation for a network of researchers who are interested in the broader theme. If you are interested in joining this network, you can contact the organizers of the workshop and they will provide you with information about future activities and events.