Contingent employment in Europe and the United States Contingent Employment in Europe and the United States examines the developments in labour markets in advanced economies in the 21st century as regards contingent employment. This is defined as employment relationships that can be terminated with minimal costs within a predetermined period of time. This includes fixed term contracts temporary agency work and self employment. Contingent employment has been the subject of much legislative activity in the last decade at both the national and European level. Temporary agency work in particular has recently been extensively deregulated in most European countries and currently we await the fate of a proposed EU directive on agency work. The book is therefore highly topical 1. Introduction 2. Beyond atypicality 3. Contingent employment in the UK 4. The regulation and growth of contingent employment in Sweden 5. Contingent employment in Spain 6. Contingent employment in Germany 7. Flexible employment in the USA 8. Contingent employment in the Netherlands 9. Conclusions : contingent employment in Europe and the flexibility security trade off