Irreversibility of time, reversibility of choices ? The Life-Course foundation of the transitional labour markets approach.

The article analyses the potential links between the life course approach and the Transitional Labour Market (TLM) perspective. It provides some empirical evidence of the role played by age and gender in individuals' situation on the labour market, as well as of the heterogeneity in course patterns in Europe, using available data about employment rates, but also transitions matrices. It develops the theoretical foundations of the life course approach, and shows how it can be articulated with the TLM framework. First, the life course approach provides some insights concerning the determinants of transitions, and their differentiation by age and gender. Second, it offers a conceptualization of time and irreversibility which helps understanding path dependency at both individual level, and underlines the importance of favouring the reversibility of choices through global policy reforms.