The world of work is facing an ongoing pandemic and an economic downturn with severe effects worldwide. Workers trapped in precarious employment (PE), both formal and informal, are among those most ...affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we call attention to at least 5 critical ways that the consequences of the crisis among workers in PE will be felt globally: (a) PE will increase, (b) workers in PE will become more precarious, (c) workers in PE will face unemployment without being officially laid off, (d) workers in PE will be exposed to serious stressors and dramatic life changes that may lead to a rise in diseases of despair, and (e) PE might be a factor in deterring the control of or in generating new COVID-19 outbreaks. We conclude that what we really need is a new social contract, where the work of all workers is recognized and protected with adequate job contracts, employment security, and social protection in a new economy, both during and after the COVID-19 crisis.
The alcohol industry in Nigeria uses sophisticated marketing strategies to influence drinking, and alcohol marketing regulations do not exist. This study examined the alcohol industry's strategy of ...using young women to promote beer in Benin City, Nigeria, and how sexualized beer marketing, as precarious employment, creates a context of risk for sexual exploitation. We conducted interviews and focus groups with beer promoters and their patrons and analysed data thematically. Some of the criteria for recruiting beer promoters include confidence, physical beauty, intelligence, and outspokenness. Beer promoters narrated that young women are mainly employed to promote beer as a strategy to convince men to buy more alcohol. Beer promoters cited the relatively high salary as their motivation for accepting to promote beer but highlighted multiple risks associated with this precarious work. First, promoters close late at night, and no provisions are made for their transport to their homes. Second, most male customers perceive beer promoters as sex workers and thus, attempt to persuade them to spend the night with them. Third, promoters also face physical and sexual harassment through unwanted contact and advances and are instructed to condone such behaviours during training. This strategy 'sexualizes' beer marketing and exposes beer promoters to health and social risks because they may be coerced into unwanted relationships as a condition for some men to purchase their brands (or sell more and meet their targets). There is a need to implement alcohol policies in Nigeria and tailor responses to beer promoters' unique risks.
We aimed to evaluate the health effects of precarious employment based on a counterfactual framework, using the Korea Labor and Income Panel Survey data. At the 4th wave (2001), information was ...obtained on 1991 male and 1378 female waged workers. Precarious work was defined on the basis of workers employed on a temporary or daily basis, part-time, or in a contingent (fixed short-term) job. The outcome was self-rated health with five response categories. Confounding factors included age, marital status, education, industry and occupation of current employment, household income, residential area, and prior health status. Propensity scores for each individual to be a precarious worker were calculated from logistic models including those covariates, and based on them, precarious workers were matched to non-precarious workers. Then, we examined the effects of precarious employment on health and explored the potential intermediary variables, using ordered logistic Generalized Estimating Equations models. All analyses were performed separately by gender. Precarious workers were found to be in a lower socioeconomic position and to have worse health status. Univariate matched analyses showed that precarious employment was associated with worse health in both men and women. By further controlling for socio-demographic covariates, the odds ratios were attenuated but remained significant. Job satisfaction, especially as related to job insecurity, and monthly wage further attenuated the effects. This suggests that to improve health status of precarious workers in Korea, policy strategies need to tackle the channeling of the socially disadvantaged into precarious jobs. Also, regulations to eliminate discrimination against precarious workers in working conditions or material reward should be introduced and enforced. There is no doubt that job insecurity, which is pervasive among workers in Korea, should be minimized by suspending market-oriented labor policies which rely on quantitative flexibility.
The Precariat Standing, Guy
2011, 2014, 2011-02-28, 20110101
eBook, Book
Open access
This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. This book presents the Precariat – an emerging class, comprising ...the rapidly growing number of people facing lives of insecurity, moving in and out of jobs that give little meaning to their lives. Guy Standing argues that this class is producing instabilities in society. Although it would be wrong to characterise members of the Precariat as victims, many are frustrated and angry. The Precariat is dangerous because it is internally divided, leading to the villainisation of migrants and other vulnerable groups. Lacking agency, its members may be susceptible to the siren calls of political extremism. To prevent a ‘politics of inferno’, Guy Standing argues for a ‘politics of paradise’, in which redistribution and income security are reconfi gured in a new kind of Good Society, and in which the fears and aspirations of the Precariat are made central to a progressive strategy.
While studies have explored the experiences of motherhood among female academics, the experiences of motherhood among precariously employed academics have not received adequate attention. This ...autoethnographic inquiry uses poetry to embody my experiences of mothering, in the context of my emotional journey and my subjectivities as a precariously employed academic in a premier higher educational institution in India. From a critical feminist standpoint, the poem explores the experiences through known metaphors including the leaky pipeline of academia, work–life imbalance in the ivory tower, and the sense of being on the hamster wheel. This work is a critical inquiry voicing the everyday realities of precariously employed academics mothering their children. It delves into how the nature of their work status influences their inner turmoil, decisions, and actions vis-à-vis motherhood. It also attempts to demonstrate and raise consciousness about how the private (motherhood) and the public (work) interact.
The organization of employment in the U.S. has changed dramatically since the 1970s, causing decreased power and security for workers across many dimensions of the employment relationship. ...Multidimensional employment-quality (EQ) measures can be used to capture these changes and test their association with health. However, most public-health EQ studies have used cross-sectional, unidimensional data. We addressed these limitations using a longitudinal, multidimensional EQ measure and data on 2779 1985–2017 Panel Study of Income Dynamics respondents. First, using a multichannel sequence-analysis approach, we identified gender-specific clusters of mid-career (ages 29–50) EQ trajectories based on respondents’ employment stability, material rewards, working-time arrangements, collective organization, and power relations. Next, we examined cross-cluster variation in respondent characteristics. Finally, we estimated the gender-specific associations between cluster-membership and post-sequence-analysis-period prevalence of poor/fair self-rated health (SRH) and moderate mental illness (Kessler-K6≥5). We identified five clusters among women and seven among men. Respondents in poor-EQ clusters were disproportionately people of color and less-educated; they also tended to report worse health. For example, among women, the prevalence of poor/fair SRH and moderate mental illness was lowest among standard-employment-relationship-like-non-union workers and the becoming self-employed, and greatest among minimally-attached, returning-to-the-labor-force, and precariously-employed workers. Meanwhile, among men, the prevalence of the outcomes was lowest among stably-high-wage workers and the wealthy self-employed, and greatest among exiting-the-labor-force and precariously-employed workers. Given the potential role of EQ in health inequities, researchers and practitioners should consider EQ in their work.
•Identified employment-quality trajectory clusters using multidimensional measure.•Estimated association between clusters, self-rated health, and mental illness.•Found five clusters among women and seven clusters among men.•Those with poor employment quality often people of color and less-educated.•Adverse health outcomes more common among those with poor employment quality.
Changes in precarious employment in the United States Oddo, Vanessa M; Zhuang, Castiel Chen; Andrea, Sarah B ...
Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health,
2021-Apr-01, Volume:
47, Issue:
3
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Objective This longitudinal study aimed to measure precarious employment in the US using a multidimensional indicator. Methods We used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1988-2016) ...and the Occupational Information Network database to create a longitudinal precarious employment score (PES) among 7568 employed individuals over 18 waves (N=101 290 observations). We identified 13 survey indicators to operationalize 7 dimensions of precarious employment, which we included in our PES (range: 0-7, with 7 indicating the most precarious): material rewards, working-time arrangements, stability, workers' rights, collective organization, interpersonal relations, and training. Using generalized estimating equations, we estimated the mean PES and changes over time in the PES overall and by race/ethnicity, gender, education, income, and region. Results On average, the PES was 3.17 standard deviation (SD) 1.19, and was higher among women (3.34, SD 1.20), people of color (Hispanics: 3.24, SD 1.23; non-Hispanic Blacks: 3.31, SD 1.23), those with less education (primary: 3.99, SD 1.07; high school: 3.43, SD 1.19), and with lower-incomes (3.84, SD 1.08), and those residing in the South (3.23, SD 1.17). From 1988 to 2016, the PES increased by 9% on average 0.29 points; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.26-0.31. While precarious employment increased over time across all subgroups, the increase was largest among males (0.35 points; 95% CI 0.33-0.39), higher-income (0.39 points; 95% CI 0.36-0.42) and college-educated (0.37 points; 95% CI 0.33-0.41) individuals. Conclusions Long-term decreases in employment quality are widespread in the US. Women and those from racialized and less-educated populations remain disproportionately precariously employed; however, we observed the largest increases among men, college graduates and higher-income individuals.
To investigate the association between precarious employment and commitment among registered nurses.
The nursing profession faces numerous challenges, and precarious employment (PE) has emerged as a ...significant issue affecting nurses' well-being and professional status.
In spring 2023, we conducted a cross-sectional survey involving members of a healthcare workers' trade union in Finland. The study encompassed data from 2,370 registered nurses representing various healthcare sectors nationwide. Regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between PE and nurses' commitment. STROBE guidelines were used to report the study.
The modified PE scale demonstrated a good fit. Among the various dimensions of PE, nurses perceived the highest level of precariousness in terms of inadequate training opportunities, followed by unpredictable and nonstandard working hours, low wages, and disempowerment. Vulnerability arising from authoritarian management exhibited the most significant and negative association with nurses' commitment (B = -0.233).
The findings of this study underscore that PE is a pressing concern within the nursing profession, and it has a detrimental impact on nurses' commitment. While precariousness in nursing is associated with issues related to empowerment and fair leadership, it appears that conventional challenges related to working hours, typical of the nursing profession, do not significantly affect nurses' commitment.
To enhance nurses' commitment, healthcare institutions and managers must actively promote leadership practices that empower and support employees. Also, employees' legal work-related rights have to be respected in organizations. Addressing these aspects can contribute to a more resilient and dedicated nursing workforce.
While precarious employment is not a new concept, it has been brought to the center of scholarly and public discourse worldwide by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. This essay delineates how ...precarious employment shapes well-being and situates that relationship in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The essay also provides an overview of how the nine articles boldly investigate how these two layers of global risk—precarious employment and the pandemic—interact to shape individuals’ well-being. In addition to advancing theoretical and empirical knowledge by analyzing timely data from diverse sources and populations, these articles call for more efforts on worker protection reforms and government financial support.
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