The relationship between unstable work careers and family transitions into adult life can vary according to the personal circumstances of individuals, as well as the welfare state system of the country. Drawing from interviews and survey data across the EU and the UK, this in-depth study explores how worker instability is perceived and experienced, and how this ‘perception’ in turn affects individuals’ economic and social situations. Using intersectional analysis and a unique focus on different life stages, the authors identify groups who are more prone to labour market risks and describe their relative disadvantage. This powerful study will inform policy measures internationally in several social domains related to work, employment and society.

The purpose of this volume is to describe the impact of the increased demand for flexibility on employees and its impact on their individual work life trajectories and health. The volume offers concrete examples of interventions aimed to find innovative ways of sustainable work careers for today's workers. We focus on the school to work transition, job insecurity, job loss and re-employment and retirement. The interventions described offer strategies for implementing support in employment contracts, increasing preparedness of individual employees with public education programs or developing work arrangements and support systems in work organizations.

Drawing from interviews and survey data across the EU and the UK, this in-depth study explores how worker instability is perceived and experienced, and how this “perception” in turn affects individuals’ economic and social situation. Using intersectional analysis, the authors identify groups who are more prone to labour market risks.

Work-related learning can be broadly seen to be concerned with all forms of education and training closely related to the daily work of (new) employees, and is increasingly playing a central role in the lives of individuals, groups or teams and the agenda’s of organizations. However, as this area of study becomes more prominent, debates have opened about the nature of the field, as well as about its configurations and effects. For example, some authors have a broad definition of WRL and define it as learning for work, at work and through work, ranging from formal, through semi-structured to informal learning. Others prefer to use the concept of WRL mainly in connection to informal, incidental learning processes during work, leading to competent workplace learners. Formal and informal learning are distinguished from each other with respect to the level of intention (implicit/non-intentional/incidental versus deliberative/intentional/structured). Another point of discussion originates from the different ‘theoretical backgrounds’ of the authors: the ‘learning theorists’ versus the ‘organizational theorists’. The first group is mainly interested in the question of how learning comes about; the second group is predominantly interested in the search for factors affecting learning.

This handbook provides a comprehensive overview of recent developments in research on the relationship between occupational trajectories over the life course and health. It uncovers the impact of far-reaching changes of work and employment, as evidenced by increased flexibility, discontinuity, and technological innovation, and offers insights into recent theoretical and methodological developments addressing this challenge. In its main parts, it presents the best evidence to readers about the following topics: early life influences on (un)healthy work, chronic exposure to occupational risks; nonstandard employment and poor health; work continuation with chronic disease; occupational determinants of healthy aging. In its final part, it discusses policy implications of current knowledge and points to the need of developing new solutions in research and practice, not least in times of climate crisis and the new pandemic. The important handbook has been prepared by a distinguished editorial team, with chapters written by prominent international experts. Despite its continuous reference to scientific knowledge it addresses its content to a broader, non-specialized readership.

This volume contains pioneering work on the relation between adolescent experiences and adult work outcomes. It assembles evidence of the effects of adolescent work experiences on adult work experiences in a single volume highlighting the demand for research on this important topic.