Conditions of Work and Employment Series No. 75

Non-standard forms of employment in Latin America: Prevalence, characteristics and impacts on wages

During the 2000s and early 2010s, Latin America experienced a process of significant improvement in the labour market. The countries of the region, However, still suffer from remarkable deficits in their labour markets and in their generation and distribution of income. In addition to informality, non-standard forms of employment affect a large number of wage-earners. This paper analyses three of such kinds of employment: part-time, temporary and triangular employment. The analysis is carried out for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. We estimate its incidence among total wage-earners and in different subgroups of workers, we analyse its evolution during the last decade and we assess the extent to which these non-standard forms of employment are a source of wage gaps and precarious labour conditions.