"This article analyses the coincidence of employment flexibility and poverty, using micro data from the European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). It is shown that – contrary to the ideal of flexicurity – workers with no employment flexibility in their trajectories are still privileged in all of the countries examined. The household and the state are discussed as important conversion factors (circumstances which influence how individuals can use their resources) and stress is laid on the analytical and political need to consider them in the present context. The household and the state co-determine the individual's capability to offer flexible work on the market, i.e. the chance to deviate from standard employment without exposing oneself to a high risk of poverty. "

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