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Precarious jobs: Where are they, and how do they affect well-being?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Wayne Lewchuk
Wayne Lewchuk*
Affiliation:
McMaster University, Canada
*
Wayne Lewchuk, School of Labour Studies and Department of Economics, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada. Email: lewchuk@mcmaster.ca
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Abstract

By the end of the 20th century, there was general agreement that most labour markets were in transition and that employment was becoming less secure. However, official labour market data have not shown a dramatic increase in temporary or casual employment. This article takes a new look at the changing characteristics of employment and offers a new method to measure employment security: the Employment Precarity Index. We use the Employment Precarity Index to assess how insecure employment associated with a ‘gig’ economy might affect well-being and social relations, including health outcomes, household well-being and community involvement.

Keywords

J88Community participationemployment precarity indexhousehold well-beingmeasuringprecarious employmentstandard employment relationship (SER)
Type
Symposium Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 28 , Issue 3: Work in the Gig Economy: Issues and Challenges , September 2017 , pp. 402 - 419
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2017

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