There may be varying levels of seriousness in the various institutional and welfare systems, but the generational segmentation of the labour markets in Europe have not only become structural but originate in policies that are either wrong or, at least, incomplete. For reasons that have not been fully explained – but in the case of Italy may depend on the family’s role as a social shock-absorber – this inequality has not so far given rise to genuine inter-generational conflict, even though there have been signs of a possible increase in protest movements. Yet it seems unlikely that having a pension and a permanent job can be what is at stake in this conflict: in western societies, the young have developed a new work ethos and the expectations of change for Generation Y involve the whole relation between work and life and radically new ways of working.only subscribers can see the full article