The Working Yet Poor project (hereinafter: Work YP) focuses on the rising trend of people working but not being able to afford a decent standard of living above the at-risk-of-poverty line. In 2019, almost one in ten workers in the European Union (hereinafter: EU) was considered at risk of poverty. Boosted by the economic crisis that proportion increased over the last decade, from an average of 8,0% in 2006 to 9,4% in 2019. The reasons for the problem of in-work poverty are manifold, such as the individual and household factors (e.g. gender, skill level, household composition and household work intensity). The applicable labour law, social security law and tax system in a given country can also have an important impact. Another reason is the increase in non-standard work forms. Even though the standard employment relationship (i.e., a worker with a full-time contract of indefinite duration) still serves as the most common work form, non-standard work has become increasingly diverse, e.g. part-time work, temporary employment and self-employment. These work forms are not only becoming more common, they have also become more diverse, often occupying a grey zone between employment and self-employment. In the EU almost 40% of employment consists of workers in non-standard work forms. The available data show the complexity of current labour markets in the EU Member States, which is further amplified by new digital evolutions and changed work patterns leading to less stable career patterns. The increasing trend in non-standard work, in combination with the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate crisis and the Ukrainian war, are important challenges for national social security systems that still use the standard employment relationship as their main framework. Several recent initiatives can be found at EU level to strengthen the social protection of non-standard workers, e.g. the right to adequate social protection for all workers and self-employed, as laid down in Article 12 European Pillar of Social Rights (hereinafter: EPSR) and the Council Recommendation on access to social protection for workers and self-employed (hereinafter: 2019 Recommendation). The proposal for an EU Directive regulating platform work is another example. Despite these initiatives, EU Member States struggle as to include non-standard work forms adequately in labour and social security law. This contribution delves deeper into the problems of Vulnerable and Underrepresented Workers (hereinafter: VUP Groups) face in receiving adequate social protection in seven EU countries (i.e., Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, Poland, Sweden and the Netherlands). The four VUP Groups are the following, and are used throughout the WYP project: i.e., 1) VUP Group 1 – low- or unskilled employees with standard employment contracts employed in poor sectors; 2) VUP Group 2 – self-employed, particularly bogus self-employed and solo (economically dependent) self-employed; 3) VUP Group 3 – flexible employed persons (i.e., temporary agency workers, part-time workers and workers with a fixed-term contract); and 4) VUP Group 4 – casual and platform workers. Three of the four VUP Groups can be considered non-standard workers; like other non-standard workers, those VUP Groups face significant problems in their access to social protection coverage. Analysing the social security coverage for the VUP Groups further in detail allows this contribution to map the problems (some) atypical work forms face
