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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to outline the study to determine whether the dual earner model better offsets the actual risk of unemployment compared to other household models.Design/methodology/approachThe authors linked the partner effect (household type) with macroeconomic institutional settings, such as employment protection, the active labour market policy, economic growth rate and globalisation, to study how these micro- and macro-level factors influence the unemployment risk of individuals.FindingsUsing European Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) microdata for Finland from 2005 to 2013 and a multilevel modelling technique, the authors found that the partner effect is an important regulator of unemployment risks, but the effect is modified by institutional factors. Dual earners and breadwinners experience a less significant effect from employment protection legislation regulation and other external factors on the increase or decrease in unemployment risk compared to singles. The authors also found that unemployed singles are more exposed and vulnerable to fluctuations caused by economic events.Originality/valueIn this way, this paper contributes to the sociological theory of labour markets and a better understanding of how different household types buffer and mediate the risks of unemployment. The authors used the EU-LFS and novel multilevel analysis statistical solutions to determine the impact of macro- and micro-level factors. The case of Finland may also be of broader interest to researchers and policy-makers because of the long and strong tradition of the dual earner employment pattern and strong macro-economic fluctuations.

This article examines the individual- and country-level factors that contribute to the risk of working unsocial hours in 30 European countries. Using the EU labor force survey data, the authors test for the influence of labor market dualization, product- and labor market regulation, and collective bargaining on the individual risk of working unsocial hours. The risks of working unsocial hours are strongly dualized in all countries, but the size of the risk gap between low-skilled outsiders and high-skilled insiders varies. In countries where collective bargaining plays a greater role in regulating work hours the gap between low- and high-skilled workers is smaller.