The family as (one- or two-step) social capital: mechanisms of support during labor market transitions

ABSTRACT

This paper uses a life-history grid to collect narrative data on the labor market transitions of young people aged 20–34 (n = 98) in order to analyze the support provided by relatives in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. Drawing on social capital theory, we explore these mechanisms by analysing the flow of resources within family networks (one-step social capital) and how relatives mediate with other agents in the labor market (two-step social capital). Hence, we address the diversity of material, symbolic and informational resources provided by relatives during labor transitions in order to understand the mechanisms involved in the intergenerational reproduction of occupation inequalities. Although the ‘strength of weak ties’ thesis usually associates the use of family networks among disadvantaged groups, our results show that the mobilization of relatives is equally important in upper-class background, in which mechanisms such as nepotism and influence on third-party employers are activated. Among the working classes, family ties help job seekers to reach non-redundant connections in the secondary segment of the labor market. The article contributes by providing a detailed map of the roles played by relatives in a southern European context characterized by precariousness and unemployment.

RESUMEN

Este artículo recoge datos narrativos mediante “parrillas de historia de vida” (life-history grid) de las transiciones laborales de jóvenes de 20 a 34 años (n = 98) para analizar el apoyo recibido de parientes y familiares en el Área Metropolitana de Barcelona. Partiendo de la teoría del capital social, se exploran estos mecanismos analizando los flujos de recursos entre las redes familiares (one-step social capital) así como la mediación que estos hacen con otros agentes en el mercado laboral (two-step social capital). Por consiguiente, analizamos la diversidad de materiales, recursos simbólicos y de la información facilitados por los familiares durante las transiciones laborales para comprender los mecanismos implicados en la reproducción intergeneracional de desigualdades ocupacionales. Aunque las tesis las “fuerza de los lazos débiles’ normalmente asocian el uso de redes familiares a grupos desaventajados, nuestros resultados muestran que la movilización de familiares es igual de importante para jóvenes de clase alta, donde se activan mecanismos de nepotismo e influencia a posibles empleadores. Entre las clases trabajadoras, los lazos familiares ayudan a los jóvenes que buscan trabajo a encontrar conexiones no redundantes en el segmento secundario del mercado laboral. En conclusión, este artículo contribuye a proporcionar un mapa detallado de los roles que juegan los familiares en el contexto del sur de Europa caracterizado por la precariedad y el desempleo.

KEYWORDS:

• Social capital
• networks
• family
• youth
• labour market

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• capital social
• redes
• familia
• juventud
• mercado de trabajo

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Miranda Lubbers for her suggestion on the ‘One- or Two-step’ approach. Moreover, we thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the previous versions of this article. Finally, our gratitude goes to all participants of this research developed by the Centre d'Estudis Sociològics sobre la Vida Quotidiana i el Treball (QUIT).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The original quote defines social capital as ‘the extent of diversity of resources embedded in one’s social network’ (Lin, 2001, p. 3).

2 Moreover, the use of employees’ networks as recruitment policies creates several advantages for the demand side. The first is the reduction in recruitment costs: employers activate a two-step mechanism to spread job information to their strong ties (Kramarz & Nordström-Skans, 2014), which act as free-of-cost recruitment agents for the firm. The second advantage, suggested by Montgomery (1991), is the evaluation of candidates’ competences: when employers lack previous information about the potential candidates, they may assume that the strong ties of extant ‘good workers’ may also be ‘good workers’ (Kramarz & Nordström-Skans, 2014). This criterion may be more relevant in positions that do not need technical or specialized knowledge, but that do require reliability and loyalty towards work and the firm. This suggests a third advantage of informal recruitment: family referrals are used as ‘a form of self-control by young workers within the workplace’ (Dick & Morgan, 1987, p. 228), because industrial relations become mediated by this bonding (Sifuentes, 2016).

3 The first group (owners and managers) includes both owners and managers of firms as well as self-employed professionals. This group is mainly composed by self-employed highly qualified workers and owners of small companies. The second group (technical and professional employees) is composed of qualified salaried employees. The third group (working class) consists of manual and non-manual workers and middle-rank supervisors.

Additional information

Funding

This article is part of the research project ‘Las redes sociales en sus diferentes modalidades como mecanismo de búsqueda e inserción laboral en el empleo y de apoyo social en los jóvenes’ [Social networks in their different modalities as mechanism in the search for employment and insertion and social support among young people] funded by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España (ref: CSO2012-36055). Lidia Yepes-Cayuela has benefitted from the FPU program of the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Mattia Vacchiano has benefitted from the FI program of the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca and the support of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES – Overcoming vulnerability: Life course perspectives, which is financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant number: 51NF40-160590).

Notes on contributors

Mattia Vacchiano

Mattia Vacchiano is PhD in Sociology at Univ. Autonoma de Barcelona. Currently, he is senior SNF researcher at the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES of the University of Lausanne. His research address networks and labor market, social inequalities and vulnerabilities among young people. His methodological tools include both quantitative and qualitative techniques to analyse narrative, longitudinal and network data.

Lidia Yepes-Cayuela

Lídia Yepes-Cayuela is PhD at Univ. Autonoma de Barcelona. She is member of Sociological Research Centre on Everyday Life and Work (QUIT). Her PhD is focused on the analysis of labor trajectories of young people in Catalonia and her research interests are related with sociology of work, youth and social networks. Her current research address mixed methods approaches in a longitudinal framework. Email: [email protected]

Joel Martí

Joel Martí is Associate Professor of Sociology at Univ. Autonoma de Barcelona. His recent research is focused on social network analysis applied to labor market transitions, juvenile delinquency and social support. His research has been published in Social Networks, International Sociology, Action Research and European Journal of Criminology. Email: [email protected]