Who Participates in Undeclared Work in the European Union?

What is it about?

Representations of who participates in undeclared work have adopted either a marginalization thesis which holds that undeclared work is conducted disproportionately by the unemployed or a reinforcement thesis which holds that it is conducted disproportionately by the employed.

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Why is it important?

Reporting a 2013 survey involving 27,563 face-to-face interviews in 28 European Union (EU) member states, the finding is that those benefitting least from the declared labor market (e.g., the unemployed, younger people, those with financial difficulties) are more likely to engage in undeclared work but receive lower financial gains from declared work than those benefitting more from declared employment. The outcome is a tentative call for a new reinforced marginalization theoretical perspective which holds that although marginal groups are more likely to engage in undeclared work, they gain less from their undeclared work, meaning that the undeclared sphere reinforces the marginalization produced by the declared economy

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