SPECIAL ISSUE N. 178(2)/2027

Introduction
The Italian labour market, while broadly aligned with many advanced economies, displays specific features that accentuate a number of structural challenges. This context is marked by a deep contradiction
between workforce ageing and the growing polarization of inequalities. In the second quarter of 2025,
the share of workers aged 55 and over reached 42.1% (ISTAT, 2025), signalling an advanced ageing process within the labour force. At the same time, the intergenerational wage gap widened by 102% compared to 1985, with an increasing concentration of individuals under 35 in the lowest wage deciles and greater stabilization of older cohorts in top positions (Banca d’Italia, 2024). Moreover, 64% of the
loss in wage positioning among young Italians is attributable to their poorer initial placement in the labour market (ibid.): it is not age per se that determines exclusion, but rather the cumulative sequence of employment experiences beginning with the first atypical contract.
This is compounded by a persistent gender employment gap, still standing at 18.7% (EIGE, 2025), and by enduring inequalities in the division of care work: 32.1% of women aged 15 to 64 report being unable to work due to unpaid family responsibilities, compared to 2.5% of men (Filandri and Struffolino,
2019; ISTAT, 2024; Romens, 2021).
Far from reflecting merely cyclical dynamics, these data instead highlight the limitations of existing approaches to ageing – particularly in relation to work and career trajectories – which struggle to engage with the complexity of contemporary demographic and labour market stratification.
Despite the extensive body of sociological research in Italy that has already explored several key dimensions of this phenomenon, there remains a need to extend the analysis beyond the later stages of ageing by adopting a processual perspective capable of reconstructing the origins and specificities of
individuals’ social and biographical trajectories.
This Special Issue therefore aims to integrate the analysis of the generative mechanisms of late-life inequalities – through which early precarity translates into later-life vulnerability – with the development of innovative methodological approaches capable of capturing the processual nature of ageing and
moving beyond purely chronological perspectives in the study of ageing at work.
State of the art The issue of ageing at work has been extensively explored in both Italian and international literature,
through a plurality of theoretical and empirical perspectives that have contributed to highlighting several key dimensions of the phenomenon. Among these, particular attention has been devoted to studies on
work ability (Ilmarinen, 2012), age management paradigms (Marcaletti, 2012), and active ageing practices (Tesauro, 2012), as well as analyses concerning pension systems (Facchini, 2023), well-being in the transition to retirement (Piazzoni et al., 2023), and the management of age diversity within
organizational contexts (Marcaletti and Garavaglia, 2014).
This body of research has significantly advanced the understanding of ageing at work, while at the same time opening up a number of questions that remain only partially addressed. In particular, there is a need to move beyond approaches that focus primarily on the later stages of working life or on specific and contingent aspects of the phenomenon, in order to more systematically investigate the processes that lead to these outcomes.
In this respect, the life course perspective emerges as a particularly promising interpretive framework.
It encourages us to view ageing at work not as a static or purely age-based condition, but rather as a socially constructed process, characterized by the accumulation of advantages and disadvantages throughout the entire lifespan (Dannefer, 2003; Ferraro et al., 2009). This approach makes it possible to
analyse occupational trajectories as dynamic outcomes of the interaction between individual agency, institutional contexts, and biographical transitions – such as labour market entry, parenthood, unemployment, or illness.
Within this framework, a growing body of research has focused on the mechanisms of cumulative advantage/disadvantage, showing how favourable initial conditions – such as stable contracts, access to training, and qualified job positions – tend to generate cumulative benefits over time, while experiences of precariousness and discontinuity lead to processes of progressive exclusion, with significant effects on well-being, health, and career opportunities (Crystal et al., 2017; Ferraro et al., 2009).
At the same time, the literature highlights the relational dimension of trajectories through the principle of linked lives, which emphasizes how individual pathways are intertwined with family and generational trajectories. From this perspective, recent empirical evidence shows that parents’ employment trajectories significantly influence those of their children, contributing to the intergenerational reproduction of inequalities (Brydsten and Kalucza, 2024).
A further line of inquiry concerns the gendered dimension of working trajectories. Numerous studies have shown how the intersection between work and family – particularly through care-related interruptions – contributes to the production of differentiated trajectories, characterized by greater
employment fragmentation, lower accumulation of pension contributions, and increased vulnerability in later life (Madero-Cabib and Fasang, 2016; Fadlon et al., 2020; Schmitz et al., 2023). These findings call
for further investigation into the intersections between gender, institutions, and socio-economic contexts.
At the same time, contemporary debates have increasingly focused on transformations in work and on the implications of so-called flexible careers. While these are often presented as opportunities for autonomy, several contributions underline how, in the absence of adequate institutional support, they may instead function as mechanisms that amplify inequalities, producing forms of economic and psychological insecurity that shape ageing trajectories (Tomlinson et al., 2018). This is further compounded by a growing interest in the relationship between work trajectories and health. The literature shows that prolonged experiences of precarious employment, involuntary
unemployment, or physically demanding work are associated with a higher risk of early exit from the labour market and with a deterioration in both physical and mental health conditions (Hoven et al., 2020).
In this perspective, early-career precariousness emerges as a potential predictor of vulnerability in later life, raising important questions for life-course-oriented preventive policies.
From a methodological standpoint, the body of evidence discussed converges in pointing to the need for analytical tools capable of capturing the longitudinal and processual nature of the phenomenon. In this regard, approaches such as sequence analysis (Gauthier et al., 2010), transition models (event history analysis, multi-state models), and longitudinal clustering techniques offer significant opportunities to reconstruct and interpret occupational trajectories over time.

Alongside strictly quantitative approaches, there is also a growing recognition of the importance of mixed-methods strategies, which allow for the integration of the structural dimension of inequalities with the subjective dimension of lived experiences. The combined use of quantitative data and qualitative materials – such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, and life histories – makes it possible to more thoroughly explore how individuals perceive, narrate, and negotiate their trajectories, thus contributing to a more nuanced understanding of the relationships between individual biographies and macro-social processes.
Building on these premises, this Special Issue aims to contribute to the existing debate by promoting contributions that, drawing on these perspectives, critically and innovatively examine the processes
through which ageing at work is socially constructed.

Aims of the Call and Thematic Areas
In order to reconceptualize ageing processes in the world of work as cumulative and relational phenomena – by analysing the interplay between biographical trajectories and transitions, transformations of work, welfare regimes, and organizational cultures – this Special Issue invites both
theoretical and empirical contributions (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods), with particular attention to comparative and/or longitudinal perspectives.
By way of indication, contributions may address one or more of the following thematic areas:
• Generative mechanisms and turning points: analyses of the processes through which working trajectories are constructed and differentiated over time, with particular attention to critical moments that transform initial conditions into divergent outcomes.
• Intersectionality and multiple stratifications: studies of cumulative inequalities and their intersections (gender, class, territory, citizenship, migration background).
• Cultures, subjectivities, and agency: approaches that explore social representations of ageing at work and the ways in which individuals interpret and negotiate their life and career trajectories.
• Institutional and organizational contexts: analyses of the role of welfare regimes, industrial relations systems, and organizational practices in shaping or mitigating inequalities across the life course.
• Transformations of work and emerging trajectories: investigations into the impact of
digitalization, hybrid work, and new contractual forms on the accumulation of risks and opportunities.
• Governance and life-course policies: reflections on policy approaches capable of moving beyond age-based frameworks and supporting working trajectories throughout the entire life course.
• Methodological challenges and comparative perspectives: contributions proposing methodological innovations (longitudinal, biographical, mixed-methods) or comparative analyses across national contexts, cohorts, and sectors.

Submission Guidelines
Articles, in Italian or English, may be submitted until the deadline of 15 December 2026.
In order to submit a manuscript, authors are required to follow the online submission procedure via
FrancoAngeli’s Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform, available at the following link:
https://journals.francoangeli.it/index.php/sl/about/submissions.
Technical information for authors regarding the submission process is summarized in the Author Guidelines, available at: 
https://journals.francoangeli.it/public/guide/Authors_guide_FrancoAngeli.pdf.
Articles should not exceed 8,000 words and must comply with the journal’s editorial guidelines, available at: https://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/NR/Sl-norme_EN.pdf.
Submissions that do not adhere to the editorial guidelines or exceed the specified length will not be considered for review. All manuscripts, once properly formatted and submitted through the OJS platform, will undergo a double-blind peer review process.

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