Search

The importance of the issues covered in this article is due to the impact of information technologies on the labour sphere, transformation of the features of “classical” labour relations and the need to rethink the categories of “employee” and “employer” in order to ensure the exercise of collective labour rights, such as the right to association, collective bargaining and collective action by all workers regardless of the form of employment, first of all, by dependent self-employed persons. The author emphasises that the ILO, the CJEU in the opinions of their supervisory bodies, and the EU Court of Justice in their judgments use a broad approach to the interpretation of the concept of employee, including self-employed persons, in particular, in the context of exercising the right to association and collective bargaining. The author presents the experience of certain European countries, in particular, France and Poland, in terms of legislative consolidation of fundamental labour rights for self-employed persons. The article demonstrates that courts in different jurisdictions have different approaches to resolving the issue of the legal status of platform workers using the example of the decision of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the Spanish court in the Deliveroo case. It is stated that in Ukraine today, one of the fundamental labour rights - the right to join a trade union de jure is not limited by the existence of an employment relationship or the status of an employee. At the same time, the right to collective bargaining, collective bargaining agreements and the right to collective action to protect one’s rights, which are an integral part of the right to freedom of association, is de facto only possible for those who are in an employment relationship based on an employment contract and have the status of an employee. As a solution to this problem, it is proposed to introduce a broad category of “working” or “employed” in national legislation, which will be used exclusively for the purposes of unionisation, exercise of the right to collective bargaining, conclusion of collective agreements and collective action. Such a definition should be separated from the definition of the narrow concept of an employee under an employment contract used in the context of individual labour relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through an intersectional analysis of gender, class, and migration, this article reveals how a hegemonic culture of workplace masculinity, embodied by a group of 'gurus,' is constructed in China's tech companies. The guru masculinity is characterized by proactivity and aggressiveness at work, 'putting work first' and overwork, and the ability to navigate boundaryless careers and settle down in first‐tier cities. It translates hegemonic masculine norms of material success, enjoying urban life, and men's breadwinner position in contemporary China on the one hand, and responds to a labor regime of precarious employment relations and prevalent overwork norm on the other hand. The article contributes to the literature on hegemonic masculinity in work organizations by showcasing how a hegemonic masculinity in China's tech workplace is constructed at the conjuncture of hegemonic gender norms at a societal level and the distinct labor regime in the tech sector. It also reveals that many male workers fail to conform to this cultural ideal, experiencing masculine frustration rooted in the nature of the 'workplace masculinity contest,' uneven urban development, and the demanding labor regime. It thus opens further discussions on how men resist hegemonic gender norms and construct alternative masculinities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous research has highlighted links between occupation and risk of COVID-19 transmission and suggests that occupational risk is influenced by covariates including socio-economic status, and deprivation. This study examined the perspectives of local authority teams of how changes in policy and advice, as set out in the UK government report 'Living with COVID,' affected COVID-19 transmission risk, response and resilience in workplace settings in Greater Manchester, an area that was disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Methods: The project, which took place between August and November 2022, undertook a mixed methods approach to incorporate wide-ranging reflections of changes following the publication of 'Living with COVID'. Quantitative data was collected from local employers (n = 149) and employees (n = 397) using online surveys, and qualitative interview data was collected from Greater Manchester local authority teams (n = 19). Results: The research highlighted the inequitable impact of the pandemic on those already experiencing health inequalities, including people on more precarious employment contracts or those who were unable to work from home during the pandemic. The study found that the facilitators that helped local authorities to support employers to manage transmission included clear, detailed and timely national and local guidance, good communication, partnership working, funding, and timely access to data. Barriers to supporting employers included contradictory or confusing national guidance, structural inequalities, lack of funding, and delayed access to data. Interview participants reported that they were now utilising lessons learnt during the pandemic, along with the that partnerships developed, in order to tackle wider health issues and to prepare for future pandemics or health crises. Conclusion: The findings of the study, which concur with previously published research conducted as part of the PROTECT project, highlight the importance of active reflection on the lessons learned during the course of the pandemic. The study draws on PH and EH teams' perspectives of managing COVID-19 transmission, in an area that was disproportionately affected by the pandemic, in order to add to our understanding of the best ways to ensure preparedness for future pandemics or health crises at a national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the association between informal employment as a form of non‐standard employment and the prevalence of in‐work poverty for women in the health sector. We measured in‐work poverty using a binary indicator that provides information on whether an individual has earnings above or below the low earnings threshold. The indicator takes into account household size and whether other household members are also in paid work. Using data from the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey for the years 2012 and 2018 and logit models, we found that being employed within the health sector increased the likelihood of in‐work poverty among non‐standard employees, both men and women. However, higher risks of in‐work poverty were witnessed among women working informally in the health sector compared to other sectors. This increased risk was particularly observed when comparing non‐standard employment in the health sector to non‐standard employment in non‐health sectors. Furthermore, marital status plays a critical role in economic wellbeing, with never‐married women being more susceptible to in‐work poverty compared to ever‐married women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on ITAS, a Croatian metalworking company with a turbulent past characterized by various property arrangements and varying degrees of success in the market for machine tools, I sketch out a shop-floor history of the ways in which the materiality of production continues to matter in contemporary capitalism. Control over machines allowed ITAS workers to negotiate their precarious position in the market. I show how collective and individual decisions of workers as economic agents contribute to shaping the geographical unevenness of capitalism. Industrial machines can serve as an ethnographic object that connects analytical scales, allowing scholars to provide a relational and historically situated understanding of how workers are incorporated into political economic systems as well as the degree to which they can influence those systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractEchoing the global expansion of precarious employment, China has experienced a surge in labor flexibility and job deterioration since its integration into global capitalism. Existing research also highlighted the distinct features of the Chinese labor market related to its post-socialist nature. The Chinese household registration system, known as hukou, has been critical in explaining stratification and shaping labor market outcomes in China. However, hukou reforms in the recent decade have further relaxed restrictions on labor mobility and hukou conversion, suggesting that hukou may gradually lose its importance in transitional China. Building upon the global research on precarious work and dynamics of precariousness in employment in the Chinese context, I conceptualize job precariousness in the contemporary Chinese labor market in three dimensions. Using pooled data from the 2010 to 2021 Chinese General Social Survey, I examine how hukou stratification is associated with the three aspects of job precariousness, compare the relative importance of hukou with other market-related factors, and identify the disparities of the state and market sectors. The findings help contextualize global trends of precariousness by broadening the evidence base through a case in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Recent immigrants from racialized minority backgrounds and those who are not proficient in the local language are some of the most vulnerable members of society. Despite having postsecondary educational qualifications and permanent residency status, many are engaged in precarious employment. There is a scarcity of research that has explicitly focused on the work experiences and mental health challenges faced by these immigrants. Methods: Using a grounded theory approach and semi-structured face-to-face interviews, this study examined the work experiences and mental health challenges of 42 recent immigrant employees from two cities in Canada who were working in various industries and engaged in precarious employment. Findings: Eighty-one percent of the employee participants were overqualified for their jobs. Findings highlighted several ongoing mental problems that participants experienced, stemming from challenging physical and psychological workplace conditions, negative mindsets associated with their recent immigrant status, and other contextual factors and barriers. However, various coping strategies, both constructive and unconstructive, were used to address this mental distress. Discussion: The study proposes a multidimensional approach to address workplace conditions to promote good mental health for these employees. This includes preventative programs for raising awareness among employers about the importance of recent immigrant employees' mental health and well-being and policy and legislation changes to ensure the employer's commitment to creating a safe and culturally friendly workplace. The approach also recommends that recent immigrant employees receive occupational health and safety training, learn about Canadian workplace norms and culture, and have access to professional healthcare services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis study addresses a gap in the labour market and occupational health literatures among sexual and gender minority workers by exploring the relationship between precarious employment and mental health through a political economy framework. Narratives from 20 cisgender and transgender sexual minority men were analysed to uncover the production of employment and mental health inequities. Results are presented temporally, including employment readiness, looking for work, and on the job, illuminating the social and structural processes that underly participants’ stories of precarious employment and mental health. A cyclical pattern was identified whereby participants’ mental ill-health resulted in separation from the labour market and increased employment precarity that subsequently further impacted their mental health. Interventions and programmes must consider multipronged approaches that address all aspects of this syndemic, including social stigma and discrimination towards sexual and gender minority people and improved access to stable employment, mental healthcare, and adequate social welfare systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the lack of diversity in the field of philosophy and the efforts being made to address this issue. It argues that diversity is crucial for an open-minded and critical discipline, and that current practices often exclude marginalized groups. The authors emphasize the need for structural changes and the importance of challenging traditional methods and priorities. They also discuss the impact of socio-economic factors and the need to combat discrimination in academia. The article provides theoretical and practical resources for transforming philosophy into a more inclusive and diverse community. Additionally, it introduces a web resource called "The Philosophy Exception" that aims to promote equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization in philosophy. [Extracted from the article]

This article situates Richard Norwood's (1590–1674) manuscript spiritual autobiography "Confessions" at the intersection of diverse literary influences and modes of writing, including artisan and "middling sort" life writing and travel writing of the early modern period. It argues that, in Norwood's hands, spiritual autobiography became a highly flexible textual template and a rich testimony of his mobility, which intertwined with and gave shifting meanings to Norwood's spiritual and embodied movement throughout the narrative. My argument is informed by a material reading of the manuscript (held in Bermuda Archives) and recent work in nonlinear and "ongoing" migration and mobility studies, seeing Norwood's text as a rich retrospective, yet unsettled record of his perpetual geographic and social mobility, which Norwood explained by his precarious employments and inability to settle in his faith. Considering the material text in relation to Norwood's mobility allows scholars to approach the text and its author from a fresh vantage point, and to reevaluate its retrospective processing, construction, and editing, appreciating how "Confessions" presents Norwood's life as "unmoored," never reaching the spiritual settling he so yearned for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article brings together feminist and critical theoretical perspectives on vulnerability to critique normative framing of vulnerability in housing. Vulnerability is often positioned as the problem affordable housing policies and programmes are designed to address). Feminist conceptions of vulnerability, by contrast, consider vulnerability as a universal condition. From a feminist perspective, I explicate the ways in which the Canadian housing regime constructs precarity in three ways: a reliance on precarious employment, positioning vulnerability as an inherent characteristic of populations, and finally through an imagined separation between nonmarket housing and (transnational) market practices. I suggest feminist conceptions of vulnerability offer a potent way forward to rethink the housing system. This recognition of shared vulnerability that is differentially felt might turn us away from targeted and population-specific interventions and instead direct attention to the housing regime itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

American anthropology is engaged in significant self‐reckonings that call for big changes to how anthropology is practiced. These include (1) recognizing and taking seriously the demands to decolonize the ways research is done, (2) addressing precarious employment in academic anthropology, and (3) creating a discipline better positioned to respond to urgent societal needs. A central role for ethnographic methods training is a thread that runs through each of these three reckonings. This article, written by a team of cultural, biocultural, and linguistic anthropologists, outlines key connections between ethnographic methods training and the challenges facing anthropology. We draw on insights from a large‐scale survey of American Anthropological Association members to examine current ethnographic methods capabilities and training practices. Study findings are presented and explored to answer three guiding questions: To what extent do our current anthropological practices in ethnographic methods training serve to advance or undermine current calls for disciplinary change? To what extent do instructors themselves identify disconnects between their own practices and the need for innovation? And, finally, what can be done, and at what scale, to leverage ethnographic methods training to meet calls for disciplinary change? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research intended to adapt and validate the self-report job precariousness scale for the Brazilian gig work context and to investigate the association of the dimensions of job precariousness with gig workers' subjective experiences and work outcomes. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on a sample of 504 Brazilian gig workers. In addition, zero-order correlations were performed on a sample of 304 Brazilian gig workers for criterion validity analysis. Results supported a four-factor structure and the bi-factor model, reinforcing the assumption that the job precarious scale is a multidimensional measure with a hierarchical structure. Reliability analysis (Alpha coefficient and bifactor indices) indicates that the scale presented adequate internal consistency for all four dimensions and the full scale. Results regarding criterion validity demonstrate that job precariousness is negatively linked to well-being and positively associated with ill-being; in addition, the dimensions of job precariousness and remuneration have significative associations with all variables of work outcome investigated. This study introduces the Brazilian version of the self-report job precariousness scale with robust psychometric qualities to assess workers' perception of precarious working conditions in the Brazilian gig work context. In addition, it broadens the scope of research on precarious working conditions and their impact on psychological experiences and work outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'Work Style Reform' (WSR) initiative, spearheaded by the late former Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, has advocated for the adoption of 'fukugyō' ('side jobs') as an additional source of income for workers. While this initiative is often uncritically viewed as a possible solution to insecure employment, especially for women employed in low-paying, temporary positions, this article argues that the WSR's promotion of fukugyō, reinforces patriarchal norms rather than challenging them. Furthermore, it critiques the neoliberal ideology that underpins the WSR initiative, which portrays underpriviledged groups of workers, such as working women in non-regular employment earning less than their male counterparts, as 'flexible', 'autonomous' and 'entrepreneurial', capable of juggling multiple jobs while fulfiling their domestic duties. The article claims that the WSR's promotion of fukugyō lacks sufficient legal safeguards and social welfare support for fukugyō workers, the majority of whom are not recognised as 'workers' under Japan's labour law. As a result, it could exacerbate the problems of employment insecurity and gender inequality in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gambian's migration towards Europe, mainly constituted by young men, substantially increased since 2010. Arriving mainly through the Central Mediterranean Route because of the extremely scarce possibility to obtain a visa, most Gambians applied for asylum in Italy, the first arrival country according to the Dublin regulation. The administrative and juridical system largely rejected their asylum requests, leaving most undocumented, in legal limbo, and deportable. The paper focuses on the different trajectories of Gambians in Italy in their post-asylum phase, discussing how existential precariousness heavily shapes their lives and how this condition compromises future building along different but entangled temporalities. In particular, the contribution wants to reflect on the various intertwined timelines that people on the move forge and inhabit, showing how they are always multiple and articulated through spatial, social, cultural, economic, and personal dimensions. In so doing, I analyze temporal dispossession as a continuous process that Gambians on the move experience prior to, during, and after their trip to Europe and which they actively struggle to overcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have suggested that employment insecurity is associated with adverse health outcomes. We explored the association between temporary employment and smoking behaviors. Methods: We analyzed 11,795 workers (51,867 observations) from the Korea Health Panel Study (2009–2018). Employment types were categorized as regular, fixed-term, or daily, based on the duration of labor contract. The outcomes were current smoking status and changes in smoking behavior (initiation or cessation) in the following year. Generalized estimating equations were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: The proportions of fixed-term and daily workers were 41.2% and 16.4% for women and 23.6% and 12.4% for men, respectively. Temporary employment was associated with increased odds of current smoking, while also demonstrating prospective associations with changes in smoking behaviors. For instance, in prospective analyses, male workers with fixed-term and daily employments were associated with a decreased likelihood of smoking cessation (OR 0.77; 95% CI, 0.65–0.91 for fixed-term employment and OR 0.66; 95% CI, 0.52–0.83 for daily employment) in the following year compared to those with regular employment. Moreover, those experiencing consecutive temporary employment was most inversely associated with smoking cessation in both men (OR 0.56; 95% CI, 0.44–0.71) and women (OR 0.37; 95% CI, 0.16–0.85) compared to those experiencing consecutive regular employment. However, no clear association between temporary employment and smoking initiation was observed in both men and women. Conclusion: Temporary employment is directly associated with current smoking and inversely associated with smoking cessation. Policies are needed to improve job insecurity among temporary employees.

Emergent health challenges related to work Work is not only central to population health but is also a significant driver of social inequality in health (1). In a recent Lancet series on work and health, the authors outlined six emergent challenges concerning work: the impact of technology, the intersection of work with sociodemographic health determinants, migrant work, precarious employment, long working hours, and climate change (1). The authors of the Lancet series also presented recommendations for future research, advocating for the utilization of mixed-methods, innovative analytical approaches (eg, causal modeling), realist evaluation, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Although each of these approaches are highly relevant, their integrated application was only vaguely outlined. We believe that each of these work and health challenges show features of complex adaptive systems. They are multifaceted, constantly evolving, and emerge from our complex and disordered real world, which is often characterized by interactions, non-linearity, interference, feedback loops, and adaptation. Consequently, future research on work and health may benefit from adopting a complex systems perspective to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the drivers of these challenges (2–4). We have recently developed an interdisciplinary framework for knowledge production aimed at understanding complex health issues within the domain of public health, rooted in complex systems theory (5). This framework can serve to organize our thinking, formulate research questions, and integrate methodologies related to each of these six work and health challenges. Briefly outlined, the Health Complexity framework relates to three core dimensions in which complex health issues may be conceptualized: patterns, mechanisms, and dynamics (5). Patterns: Looking for specific patterns of disease or risk factors allows us to empirically identify health issues that emerge from the mechanisms and dynamics of the underlying systems, eventually allowing us to discover vulnerable subgroups, and thereby set boundaries for targeted interventions. Mechanisms: Understanding the core mechanisms that give rise to these emergent health patterns and how they are connected across scales through interactions and interference can help us identify potential leverage points for intervention. Dynamics: Building evidence on the dynamics that make patterns and mechanisms change over time will allow us to identify vicious circles associated with particularly high morbidity. Between them, these dimensions cover seven key features of complex systems (emergence, interactions, non-linearity, interference, feedback loops, adaptation, and evolution), which we have highlighted as central to public health. The Health Complexity framework builds upon the ideas of methodological pluralism (6–8) and is intended to be an overarching framework for interdisciplinary and collaborative research on complex health issues, also in the field of work and health. As an illustration, we will outline the elements needed to examine one of these challenges – precarious employment – through a complex systems lens, particularly highlighting how this approach influences the way we phrase research questions on health problems that do justice to the complexity of the real world. Precarious employment viewed through a complex systems lens With globalization and technological advancements, there has been a shift towards a gig economy. This has led to an increase in temporary, part-time, and freelance work, which often lacks stability and benefits. Precarious employment specifically refers to such work characterized by employment insecurity, income inadequacy, and lack of rights and protection (9). The lack of stability and benefits associated with precarious employment combined with poor working conditions have been shown to have negative effects on physical and mental health (10–13). Workers may experience higher levels of stress, depression, and other health problems due to financial insecurity and lack of access to healthcare, which collectively may be an important driver of health inequality and of health decline. In a life course perspective, there may also be important feedback mechanisms exacerbating such inequality, with poor health not only being a consequence of precarious employment, but workers with poor health may be more likely to be excluded from stable work (14). Overall, the increasing prevalence of precarious employment represents a substantial challenge for public health, which can be seen as a sort of byproduct of larger societal trends. We believe that employing a complex systems lens can help us generate relevant scientific knowledge about the fundahttps://www.sjweh.fi/editoi.sjweh.fi/pics/update_u_3.gifmental drivers of this problem. This essentially entails three interlinked steps organized around the three core dimensions of the Health Complexity Framework (figure 1). Patterns: As a first step, we need to zoom out and understand the health effects associated with emergent patterns of precarious employment in their context across time and space, asking questions such as: •How does precarious employment change over time, and how does this changing pattern affect population health? •Are there certain population groups, defined, eg, by socioeconomic status, age, occupation, migrant status, or geographical regions who experience more adverse health effects by precarious employment than others? Systematically evaluating health patterns associated with precariousness can help us define boundaries for targeted prevention. Employing classical epidemiological surveillance methods alongside data science techniques for uncovering patterns within multidimensional large-scale datasets serves as key examples of such pattern identification. Mechanisms: As a second step, we need to understand what mechanisms underlying the health effects of precariousness and how elements of these mechanisms are connected across scales, from cells to society, asking questions such as: •How do mechanisms interact across biological, behavioral, social, and societal scales to create the rising public health problems associated with precarious employment? •Does precarious employment and its associated health problems cluster and spread across social networks and/or across occupational and economic sectors? Systematically evaluating the interconnectedness between mechanisms and individuals across various scales can help us identify leverage points for intervention. Whereas biomedical studies can contribute to uncovering the biological mechanisms linked to precarious employment, such as the embodiment of stress (15), the social sciences may offer profound insights into macro-scale mechanisms involving political, economic, and social structures. Dynamics: As a third step, we need to explore how the health effects of precarious employment change over time due to dynamic processes like adaptation and feedback, asking questions such as: •How do national political and social contexts adapt to historical changes in the labor market including the increase in precarious employment, and what is the impact of this adaptation when it comes to how and to what extent precarious employment can affect the health of individuals and populations? •Is there a reinforcing feedback mechanism between social disadvantage, precarious employment, and health? This mechanism could create a vicious circle—for example, social disadvantage increasing the likelihood of precarious employment, which then leads to health consequences that may further reinforce social disadvantage. Systematically assessing such dynamism can help us intervene on vicious circles that generate excessive burdens of disease in specific population groups. Systems methodology, including formal conceptual model building and computational simulations, are essential in creating such evidence. Integrating interdisciplinary knowledge across these dimensions will provide a systematic and comprehensive understanding of the patterns of precarious employment and health, the underlying connected mechanisms generating these patterns, and the dynamics that makes them change over time. Some dimensions, like the patterns of precarious employment and health, may already be well-researched, while other dimensions such as dynamics require further investigation. We argue that it is essential to systematically explore all these dimensions to comprehensively understand a complex issue. Leaving out one of these core dimensions may leave blind spots that will render our understanding of precarious employment and health incomplete and thereby impact the efficiency of future interventions. In this editorial, we have focused on how to phrase research questions when applying a complex systems lens on precarious employment and health. This clearly needs to be matched by the integration of an interdisciplinary set of methods and data. An overview of such methods and data can be found in Rod et al (5). Are we at the brink of a ‘complexity turn’ in public health? We believe that we are witnessing a shift in public health away from the traditional model of evidence, which primarily focused on empirically testing predefined hypotheses of single exposures and outcomes. Instead, there is a growing recognition of public health issues as complex, involving the complex interactions of biological, social, psychological, economic, and other processes across various levels and time scales (2–5, 16–20). These dynamics may show nonlinearity and adaptability. This paradigm shift is particularly important to our understanding of the relationship between work and health, including the emergent challenges outlined in the Lancet series, where contextual factors and interactions across micro-, meso- and macro-levels emerge as main drivers of dynamic change in employment condition. Formalizing this turn towards complexity in public health requires not only a realignment of our research questions as outlined for precarious employment above, but also necessitates the integration of traditional epidemiological methods with systems methodologies, such as computational simulation modeling (3, 18). Furthermore, it calls for sustained support for interdisciplinary collaboration and substantial investment in a diverse array of data types. These include multi-scale data, spatial data, time-series data, life-course data, network data, and multi-generational data, among others. This shift in our understanding of public health also impacts our approach to evidence synthesis. Traditionally, evidence synthesis has been relatively straightforward, typically summarized in systematic reviews or meta-analyses focusing on single isolated risk factors. However, with a complex systems perspective, we must transition towards a dynamic evidence synthesis framework. This approach involves an ongoing process of data-driven discoveries, hypothesis testing, and theory building. By adopting this dynamic approach, we can effectively synthesize evidence on complex research questions while continuously assessing which dimensions remain unresolved and understudied. These unresolved or understudied aspects should serve as guiding principles for future studies and research programs, also on work and health. Funding NHR acknowledge funding from the European Union (ERC, LAYERS, project no. 101124807). The views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. References 1. Frank J, Mustard C, Smith P, et al. Work as a social determinant of health in high-income countries: past, present, and future. The Lancet 2023; 402: 1357-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00871-1 2. Rutter H, Savona N, Glonti K, et al. The need for a complex systems model of evidence for public health. Lancet 2017; 390: 2602-4. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31267-9 3. Stronks K, Crielaard L, Rod NH. Systems Approaches to Health Research and Prevention. In: Ahrens W, Pigeot I, eds. Handbook of Epidemiology. New York, NY: Springer, New York, NY, 2024: 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6625-3_70-1 4. Roux AVD. Complex Systems Thinking and Current Impasses in Health Disparities Research. Am J Public Health 2011; 101: 1627. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2011.300149 5. Rod NH, Broadbent A, Rod MH, Russo F, Arah OA, Stronks K. Complexity in Epidemiology and Public Health. Addressing Complex Health Problems Through a Mix of Epidemiologic Methods and Data. Epidemiology 2023; 34: 505-14. https://doi.org/10.1097/EDE.0000000000001612 6. Ogilvie D, Bauman A, Foley L, Guell C, Humphreys D, Panter J. Making sense of the evidence in population health intervention research: Building a dry stone wall. BMJ Glob Health 2020; 5. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004017 7. Vandenbroucke JP, Broadbent A, Pearce N. Causality and causal inference in epidemiology: the need for a pluralistic approach. Int J Epidemiol 2016; 45: 1776-86. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyv341 8. Illari PM, Russo F. Causality: philosophical theory meets scientific practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. 9. Kreshpaj B, Orellana C, Burström B, et al. What is precarious employment? A systematic review of definitions and operationalizations from quantitative and qualitative studies. Scand J Work Environ Health 2020; 46: 235-47. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3875 10. Matilla-Santander N, Muntaner C, Kreshpaj B, et al. Trajectories of precarious employment and the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke among middle-aged workers in Sweden: A register-based cohort study. The Lancet Regional Health - Europe 2022; 15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100314 11. Matilla-Santander N, Matthews AA, Gunn V, et al. Causal effect of shifting from precarious to standard employment on all-cause mortality in Sweden: an emulation of a target trial. J Epidemiol Community Health 2023; 77: 736-43. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2023-220734 12. Jonsson J, Muntaner C, Bodin T, et al. Low-quality employment trajectories and risk of common mental disorders, substance use disorders and suicide attempt: a longitudinal study of the Swedish workforce. Scand J Work Environ Health 2021; 47: 509. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3978 13. Rönnblad T, Grönholm E, Jonsson J, et al. Precarious employment and mental health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Scand J Work Environ Health 2019; 45: 429-43. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3797 14. Junna L, Moustgaard H, Martikainen P. Health-related selection into employment among the unemployed. BMC Public Health 2022; 22: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13023-0 15. McEwen BS. Neurobiological and Systemic Effects of Chronic Stress. Chronic Stress (Thousand Oaks) 2017; 1. https://doi.org/10.1177/2470547017692328 16. Page SE, Zelner J. Population Health as a Complex Adaptive System of Systems. In: Apostolopoulos Y, Lich KH, Lemke MK, eds. Complex Systems and Population Health, 1st edn. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020: 33-44. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190880743.003.0003 17. Rod MH, Rod NH, Russo F, Klinker CD, Reis R, Stronks K. Promoting the health of vulnerable populations: Three steps towards a systems-based re-orientation of public health intervention research. Health Place 2023; 80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.102984 18. El-Sayed AM, Galea S. Systems Science and Population Health. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190492397.003.0017 19. Luna Pinzon A, Stronks K, Dijkstra C, et al. The ENCOMPASS framework: a practical guide for the evaluation of public health programmes in complex adaptive systems. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2022; 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-022-01267-3 20. Stronks K, Nicolaou M. Embracing complexity in social epidemiology. Lancet Public Health 2018; 3: e352-3. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(18)30137-3

Despite its political and strategic importance, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has been largely absent from cross-regional comparative treatments of industrial and labor relations. This special issue builds on a rich, multidisciplinary, and methodologically diverse body of research on labor and employment in the MENA, bringing together a collection of cutting-edge work in this field. The goal is to bring the study of the MENA into conversation with international and comparative scholarship on industrial and labor relations and to encourage more systematic inclusion of the MENA in comparative work. Drawing on research on Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Israel, and the Gulf states, contributors to this special issue advance comparative scholarship on migration, labor market outcomes, worker agency, and the relationship between unions and precarious workers. This introductory essay situates these contributions in the context of three bodies of research in the study of labor in the MENA: resistance and contentious activism, labor market challenges, and migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a qualitative analysis of a group of mobilized precarious workers in Tunisia's public sector, the author asks how workers' collective actions are shaped by and, at the same time, can act upon labor unions' responses to them. Findings suggest that unions can enable and simultaneously constrain precarious workers' collective actions. More important, workers learn from their interactions with the union, and this learning process can contribute to innovations in workers' mobilizing structure and repertoire of actions. The Tunisian case contributes to the debate on the relationship between precarious workers and institutionalized actors as well as to the study of mobilized precarious workers by elucidating the ways in which the workers' embedded and innovative agency plays out within and beyond a well-established labor union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of precarious work generates important questions about how this mode of employment might affect young workers' transition to adulthood, particularly their decision to live independently. Existing demographic literature has considered the impact of unemployment on parental coresidence but overlooked the potential influence of precarious employment. Yet, features of precarious employment might matter for young adults' residential arrangements. Our paper provides a theoretical framework linking precarious work to parental coresidence. Specifically, we outline three mechanisms that underlie this relationship: low pay, meager benefits, and short job tenure. Using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth from 2005 to 2017, we provide empirical support for our model. We found that precariously employed young adults are more likely than their peers in standard jobs to live with their parents. About a third of this effect can be accounted for by the three theorized mechanisms. Our research contributes to the growing literature demonstrating the impact of economic insecurity on the workplace and family, the two essential arenas of social life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workers and food systems are integral to economic progress in Africa, where food insecurity is rising alongside exacerbating levels of precarious employment conditions. However, empirical literature remains scant on this relationship. This study examines the link between precarious employment and food insecurity in Ghana using the country's first Annual Household Income and Expenditure Panel Survey. Precarious employment is a multidimensional index of income inadequacy, employment insecurity, lack of rights and protection, and an unsafe or unhealthy work environment, whereas food insecurity is measured using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale. The main finding, adjusted for endogeneity, indicates that precarious employment increases household food insecurity, a finding that is robust to alternative measures of precarious employment and food insecurity. We further find that precarious employment increases food insecurity more among female-headed households in rural areas. Relatively, employment insecurity has the biggest effect in increasing food insecurity followed by lack of rights and protection, income inadequacy, and unsafe or unhealthy work environment. These findings further demonstrate that health shocks and household asset accumulation are important channels through which precarious employment affects food insecurity. We suggest policies to mitigate health shocks and bolster household asset accumulation among workers in precarious employment to safeguard household food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Precarious employment (PE) is non-standard employment with uncertain and unstable contract duration, low wages, and limited labour protections and rights. Research has associated PE with workers’ poor mental health and well-being; however, this association has been studied primarily using quantitative methods. This qualitative study seeks to examine the mechanisms between PE and mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, it aims to address: (Benach J, Muntaner C. Precarious employment and health: developing a research agenda. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007;61(4):276.) How do PE and working conditions impact the mental well-being of workers and members of their close families or households?; and (Kreshpaj B, Orellana C, Burström B, Davis L, Hemmingsson T, Johansson G, et al. What is precarious employment? A systematic review of definitions and operationalizations from quantitative and qualitative studies. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2020;46(3):235–47.) How has the COVID-19 pandemic shaped these relationships? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 40 individuals aged 25–55 engaged in PE during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic or whose employment was terminated due to the pandemic. Results showed that PE amplified mental health symptoms and illnesses for workers and their families. These experiences were described as chronic, where impacts were exerted on precariously employed workers through systemic discrimination and racism, colonialism, workplace hierarchies, and gendered ideologies. PE negatively impacted mental health through emotional stress about employment and income instability, insecurity, and loss; added pressure for households where both partners are engaged in PE; impacted ability to maintain or improve overall health and well-being; and barriers to social connectedness. Overall, this study characterizes multiple dimensions of PE and the consequences they have on the mental health of workers and their families.

Abstract Background Working in the healthcare sector seems less interesting than other sectors: the salary is low relative to the demands of the labour involved, and working conditions as well as management are perceived as poor. These factors may have an impact on the well-being of nurses in the healthcare sector. This study aims to explore the relationship between precarious employment and occupational well-being, in addition to the moderating effect of having a calling in this relationship among younger and older nurses. Methods Cross-sectional survey data were collected among Finnish nurses (n = 5867) between October and November 2020. Data were collected on demographics, occupational well-being, precarious employment, and having a calling in the field. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to explore the associations. Results Younger nurses perceived lower levels of occupational well-being and calling, and higher levels of precarious employment compared to older nurses. Precarious employment had a negative relationship with occupational well-being, and having a calling showed a positive relationship with regard to occupational well-being. No interaction effect of precarious employment and having a calling with occupational well-being was found. Conclusions Young nurses’ occupational well-being, precarious employment, and calling should be studied further because they are in a weaker position in working life. Using a qualitative approach should be considered in order to obtain more in-depth information.

This study presents findings from qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) conducted among young working-class Palestinian women citizens of Israel who were interviewed as high school students working in precarious employment and again five years later as they entered emerging adulthood. The study examined precarious employment during high school as a central axis that shapes the features of emerging adulthood over time among young working-class Palestinian women, within the dynamic between culture (traditional expectations) and education (self-realization). QLR makes it possible to examine the structures of barriers and resources at the intersection of gender, class, and ethnonationality over time. Employing the theoretical frameworks of vulnerability and precarity reveals that the features of emerging adulthood are anchored in economic, political, and cultural structures. Reliance on precarious employment and exploitative work environments during adolescence has far-reaching consequences throughout emerging adulthood. Young women are in a state of perpetual responsibility, doubly tasked with escaping poverty and pursuing higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporary labor migration is a household phenomenon among rural communities in India. This study seeks to understand the subjective experiences influencing the temporariness of labor migration among internal migrants in India by examining various factors such as migration conditions, motivation, migration arrangements, coping and adaptation strategies, and determinants of stay. To achieve this objective, the current qualitative study utilized 14 indepth interviews and 2 focus group discussions to investigate the temporary nature of labor migration among internal migrants in India. Our findings reveal that migration decisions are rational choices made collectively at the household level, considering socio-economic outcomes. We also find that social networks and contractors facilitate migration arrangements and job connections, and migrants employ various strategies to reduce costs and cope with expenses in urban areas. However, migration destinations often fail to meet migrants' expectations, exposing them to low-wage employment and precarious working and living conditions, which are detrimental to their health. Limited housing and sanitation facilities further contribute to the challenges faced by migrants. Work conditions, including poor wages and high job demands, also affect their well-being. These findings highlight the need for improved support systems that address accommodation challenges, work conditions, and the overall welfare of labor migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indonesian rural youth face challenges accessing farmland and sustaining an agricultural livelihood while their labour is not necessarily absorbed by other sectors. In that context, the Omnibus Law on Job Creation (Law 11/2020) promises to liberalise trade and investment across multiple sectors, including agriculture and food security. Combining legal research and political economy approaches to youth and agrarian challenges, we identify amendments to legislation that reduce safeguards for the environment, workers' and farmers' rights and their livelihoods. If fully implemented, the legislative amendments could further narrow youth's options both for secure formal work and futures in farming by accelerating the expansion of infrastructure, industrial plantations and extractive industries that utilise low‐wage labour and huge areas of land. This exposes inconsistencies in the government's approach to increase future food security by promoting intensification of agriculture and attracting youth to farming, while enabling agro‐ and resource extraction that absorbs land yet offers limited and precarious employment prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the ideological orientations of 'younger workers' in relation to their experience of precarious employment in Scotland and Greece. Based on 60 semi-structured interviews with workers in hospitality-related occupations in two national settings, it counterposes their actual material conditions to their ideational conceptions, values and worldviews. By interrogating stances on issues such as flexibility, future plans, collectivism and trade unionism, on the ideals of freedom and fairness and on their thoughts about what is possible in their field of work, it enquires about the impact of prevailing market-centred values and neoliberal axioms on younger workers. It identifies tensions, unease and contradictions in workers' 'subjective' articulations and explains how these are not a product of ideology per se but have their causes in the 'objective' realm, the socio-economic conditions prevailing since the financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on qualitative data, in this article the authors apply Katz's conceptual framework of agency as resilience, reworking and resistance practices to theorise UK migrant workers' responses to worsened employment conditions, stress of unemployment and reduced incomes during the Covid-19 pandemic. The article draws attention to the range of micro practices these workers adopted to survive and rework existing conditions to their advantage – actions which rarely feature in academic writing, yet which recognise those who do not 'resist' as conscious agents who exercise power. Meanwhile, although outright oppositional responses to deteriorating employment conditions are rare, the article demonstrates the nature of workplace union representation as a central factor in resisting managerial control. The article extends Katz's framework by considering the 'how' and 'why' behind migrant workers' responses, to understand better their dynamic choices of resilience, reworking and resistance practices in the chaotic circumstances of the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precarious employment (PE) is non-standard employment with uncertain and unstable contract duration, low wages, and limited labour protections and rights. Research has associated PE with workers' poor mental health and well-being; however, this association has been studied primarily using quantitative methods. This qualitative study seeks to examine the mechanisms between PE and mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, it aims to address: (Benach J, Muntaner C. Precarious employment and health: developing a research agenda. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2007;61(4):276.) How do PE and working conditions impact the mental well-being of workers and members of their close families or households?; and (Kreshpaj B, Orellana C, Burström B, Davis L, Hemmingsson T, Johansson G, et al. What is precarious employment? A systematic review of definitions and operationalizations from quantitative and qualitative studies. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2020;46(3):235–47.) How has the COVID-19 pandemic shaped these relationships? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 40 individuals aged 25–55 engaged in PE during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic or whose employment was terminated due to the pandemic. Results showed that PE amplified mental health symptoms and illnesses for workers and their families. These experiences were described as chronic, where impacts were exerted on precariously employed workers through systemic discrimination and racism, colonialism, workplace hierarchies, and gendered ideologies. PE negatively impacted mental health through emotional stress about employment and income instability, insecurity, and loss; added pressure for households where both partners are engaged in PE; impacted ability to maintain or improve overall health and well-being; and barriers to social connectedness. Overall, this study characterizes multiple dimensions of PE and the consequences they have on the mental health of workers and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Employment provides economic security, a social network, and is important for self-identity. A review published by van der Noordt and colleagues in 2014 showed that employment was beneficial for depression and general mental health. However, an updated synthesis including research published in the last decade is lacking. In the planned review, we aim to update, critically assess, and synthesise the current evidence of the association between paid employment (excluding precarious employment) and common mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, and psychological distress) among the working age population in the labour force. Methods: We will follow recommended guidelines for conducting and reporting systematic reviews. Four electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, APA PsycINFO, and Web of Science) will be searched from 2012, using appropriate MeSH terms and text words related to our inclusion criteria. We will screen the records against predefined eligibility criteria, first by title and abstract using the priority screening function in EPPI-Reviewer, before proceeding to full-text screening. Only studies investigating the longitudinal relationship between employment and common mental health outcomes will be included. We will search for grey literature in OpenAlex and conduct backward and forward citation searches of included studies. The methodological quality of the included studies will be assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (RoB 2), Risk Of Bias In Non-randomised Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I), or the Newcastle–Ottawa scale (NOS). We will conduct a narrative review and, if possible following pre-set criteria, conduct random-effects meta-analyses to estimate the pooled effect of employment on depression, anxiety, and psychological distress, across the included studies. Discussion: An updated review of the association between non-precarious employment and mental health outcomes is needed. In the planned review, we will assess the quality of the included studies and synthesise the results across studies to make them easily accessible to policy makers and researchers. The results from the review can be used to aid in policy decisions and guide future research priorities. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42023405919. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is increasing awareness of the need to analyse symptoms of mental ill-health among early school leavers. Dropping out of compulsory education limits access to the labour market and education and could be related to deteriorating mental health over the course of a lifetime. The aim of this longitudinal study is to explore how early school leavers not in education, employment or training (NEET) narrate their working life trajectories linked to health, agency and gender relations. Methods: Twelve early school leavers in the Swedish Northern Cohort (six women and six men) were interviewed over 40 years about their working life and health. Their life stories were analysed using structural narrative analysis to examine the evolution of their working life paths and to identify commonalities, variations and gendered patterns. Results: All the participants started in the same position of "an unhealthy gendered working life in youth due to NEET status". Subsequently, three distinct working life paths evolved: "a precarious gendered working life with negative health implications", "a stable gendered working life in health challenging jobs" and "a self-realising gendered working life with improved health". Agency was negotiated through struggle narratives, survival narratives, coping narratives and redemption narratives. Conclusions: Even in a welfare regime like Sweden's in the early 1980s, early school leavers not in education, employment or training experienced class-related and gendered working and living conditions, which created unequal conditions for health. Despite Sweden's active labour market policies and their own practices of agency, the participants still ended up NEET and with precarious working life paths. Labour market policies should prioritise reducing unemployment, combating precarious employment, creating job opportunities, providing training and subsidised employment in healthy environments, and offering grants to re-enter further education. Our study highlights the need for further analyses of the contextual and gendered expressions of health among early school leavers throughout their lifetime, and of individual agency in various contexts for overcoming adversities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on crisis have brought to fore the necessity of studying the gendered impact of such events. Covid‐19 too has shown how gender relations play a role in the political economy of crisis, relief and response as well as recovery. This article focusses on the experiences of paid domestic workers in India who are among the most invisible and marginalized of India's informal workers and largely excluded from labor discourse and employment legislation. With Covid‐19, the precariousness characterizing the sector has also been further exposed and exacerbated, with vast numbers of workers now facing significant challenges to livelihood, as well as several new/additional pressures and risks, both at work and at home. In this article, we examine these Covid‐related challenges, drawing on interviews conducted with domestic workers, NGO practitioners, and labor rights' activists in Delhi and Kolkata between April and August 2020. We show how, during the national lockdown, many domestic workers in these cities experienced increased insecurity related to jobs and housing, as well as an increased control and surveillance at home. Furthermore, with the partial easing of lockdown and the associated 'return' to work, many experienced reduced bargaining power at work, increasingly blurred roles, and heavier workloads. Workers also experienced more overt forms of avoidance behavior, linked to ideas of caste/class and more recent notions of 'hygiene'/'distancing'. In detailing these experiences and contextualizing them within a much longer history of invisibilization and marginalization facing workers engaged in social reproduction, we draw attention to what we call the 'precarious continuities' in paid domestic work. We argue that the crisis allows for a lens to widen the theoretical understanding around social reproduction as a form of underpaid and devalued labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of precarious organizations exacerbated by neoliberal work arrangements underscores the need for a comprehensive exploration of their intersection with social diversity challenges. Historically, precarity has been examined with a focus on the uncertain organizational structures and processes, neglecting the diversity of the worker. To address this gap, we elaborate on the contributions in our themed section to offer an intersectional feminist perspective. An intersectional feminist perspective sheds light on the multi-layered experiences of the precarity of life for diverse groups so that organization studies might contribute more effectively to addressing the complexities posed by precarious organizations. We present conceptual and empirical insights that advance organization studies by deepening our understanding of the relational and situated dimensions of precarity, thereby contributing to theoretical and practical advancements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to show how critical moments in recent world history – the Covid-19 pandemic, the fourth industrial revolution, and migration crises – have affected employment in social enterprises and, more broadly, in the third sector. Design/methodology/approach: Analyses of international reports of global agencies, analysis of international studies on labour markets, analyses of situation of social enterprises from Poland in the perspective of historical institutionalism. Findings: Precariousness in the labour market will be one of the most critical challenges of modern times. Informal jobs will grow at the same rate as formal employment as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Although recent estimates suggest a return to informal employment for both women and men, the most severe effects of the pandemic will play out along pre-existing lines of inequality and marginality, causing the most severe consequences for those who were already most vulnerable to them. Social implications: In the biggest risk of job insecurity are the social groups of less developed economies, where the economic downturn resulting from the pandemic is forcing a shift in corporate strategies toward cost-cutting and the search for labor savings. The global challenges of today's world mean that further research on the impact of exogenous shocks on job insecurity should be conducted. Originality/value: Analysis of modern exogenous shocks in perspective of historical institutionalism (important for scientific theory with applied aspects for social and economic practice). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Working in the healthcare sector seems less interesting than other sectors: the salary is low relative to the demands of the labour involved, and working conditions as well as management are perceived as poor. These factors may have an impact on the well-being of nurses in the healthcare sector. This study aims to explore the relationship between precarious employment and occupational well-being, in addition to the moderating effect of having a calling in this relationship among younger and older nurses. Methods: Cross-sectional survey data were collected among Finnish nurses (n = 5867) between October and November 2020. Data were collected on demographics, occupational well-being, precarious employment, and having a calling in the field. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to explore the associations. Results: Younger nurses perceived lower levels of occupational well-being and calling, and higher levels of precarious employment compared to older nurses. Precarious employment had a negative relationship with occupational well-being, and having a calling showed a positive relationship with regard to occupational well-being. No interaction effect of precarious employment and having a calling with occupational well-being was found. Conclusions: Young nurses' occupational well-being, precarious employment, and calling should be studied further because they are in a weaker position in working life. Using a qualitative approach should be considered in order to obtain more in-depth information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent changes in the relationship between the postponement of the statutory retirement age, pension participation, and the precariousness of employment in China may conceal the lasting negative effects on workers' current and ongoing welfare. Grounded on China's normalised precarious employment with individualisation, insecurity, and instability, and identifying the current Urban Employee Basic Pension (UEBP) as based on traditional industrialism, the empirical evidence from 68 workers in precarious employment shows how limited UEBP participation even extends working life. Under the institutionalised inequality of UEBP, and without long-term coworkers who can promote understanding of the system, the uncertainties of future livelihood and "voluntary" participation in the UEBP (re)shape the rationality of precarious workers towards minimum participation. Hence, raising the statutory retirement ages is unlikely to improve their UEBP participation, but rather lengthen the period of precarious employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does wage labor contribute to well‐being beyond providing an income? Well‐being can be understood in eudaimonic terms as the happiness derived from a socially valued life or in hedonic terms as the experience of pleasure. The eudaimonic–hedonic divide is replicated in competing progressive visions of the place of work in a good life. Laborist theories stress the centrality of paid work for a meaningful life. By contrast, for post‐work theories, pleasure is important for well‐being, and work is generally not expected to be pleasurable. Surprisingly, many of the participants in my study of diverse US job seekers described one or more of the jobs they had held as "fun." Fun connotes enjoyment without deeper meaning, a hedonic rather than eudaimonic account of nonfinancial work rewards. What made a job fun were small work pleasures: enjoyment of the tasks and feeling competent at them, enjoyment of the physical work environment, or enjoyment of social relations on the job. These small pleasures could be found in both standard and nonstandard, precarious jobs. This study indicates the need for a labor politics that improves hedonic well‐being on the job. It also expands an "anthropology of the good" to include ordinary enjoyment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of depression related to precarious employment (PE) has become a significant public health concern, given the declining trend of the standard employment relationship. Research has focused on the mental health detrimental effects of employment conditions, whereas there is scarce evidence concerning the burden of depression that could be prevented by targeting precariousness. This paper estimates the impact of PE on the risk of depression and the attributable fraction within the active and working salaried population in Spain. Observational cross-sectional on data drawn from the Spanish portion of European Health Survey 2020. After applying selection criteria and descriptives, binary logistic regression models stratified by sex are used to examine the associations between a 9-categories combination of employment precariousness and occupational social class, and depressive symptoms. There is a higher risk of depression among individuals in PE and among those who are unemployed, with a notable gradient based on occupational social class for women. Adjusting by sex, age and foreign-born origin, we estimate that approximately 15.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0%–26.2%) of depression cases among the working population and 33.3% (95% CI: 23.2%-43.2) among the active population can be attributed to PE. These findings highlight the public health impact of PE on mental health, provide evidence to estimate the economic burden linked to employment-related mental health, and underscore the need for policy changes and interventions at the level of labour markets and workplaces to mitigate the detrimental effects of PE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Professionalism has been widely criticized for its biased standards modeled around dominant identities while excluding minoritized groups. Nevertheless, it remains a powerful social discourse, adopted widely by workers and organizations, and frontline workers—who became particularly salient during the COVID-19 pandemic—are no different, even as they are mainly Black and Brown. Our exploratory study, based on in-depth interviews with 15 Black frontline workers, examines how they use discourses of professionalism to navigate everyday tensions stemming from both their minoritized racial identity and the precarious nature of frontline work. Participants described three intersecting communicative practices—bottling their emotions, striving for (elusive) excellence, and navigating (in)visibility. Our research thus addresses the communicative practice of professionalism among an important yet undeserved category of workers, showing how it is both hegemonic and exclusionary, but may nevertheless be subverted strategically by precarious workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plattformarbeit ist für Solo-Selbstständige zu einem wichtigen Erwerbszugang geworden. Dieser Zusammenhang wurde noch wenig untersucht, obwohl der Forschungsstand für beide Erwerbsformen ähnliche Bedingungen ausweist. Mittels einer qualitativen Befragung haben wir die Plattformerfahrungen von 20 Solo-Selbstständigen aus drei Berufsfeldern in vergleichender Perspektive analysiert: Yoga-Lehrer*innen, Sprachlehrer*innen und Creator*innen von Inhalten für die sozialen Medien. Trotz verschiedener Formen der Nutzung von Plattformdiensten sind die Resultate ähnlich: Für kleinere Zusatzeinnahmen ist beträchtlicher Aufwand erforderlich, aber Tools und Informationsangebote der Plattformen machen Arbeitserleichterungen möglich. Die Solo-Selbstständigen erleben viele der aus der Plattformforschung bekannten Abhängigkeiten und verschärften Konkurrenzbedingungen auf Online-Märkten. Nur für wenige Creator*innen führt Plattformarbeit aus einer prekären Selbstständigkeit heraus. Der Beitrag plädiert dafür, die beiden Forschungsfelder stärker zu verbinden und mit institutionellen Absicherungen des solo-selbstständigen Erwerbs auch die Bedingungen von Plattformarbeit zu verbessern. Platform labour has become an important employment option for the solo self-employed. This connection has not yet been investigated sufficiently, although research suggests similar conditions for both modes of employment. Through a qualitative survey, we analysed the platform experiences of 20 solo self-employed workers from three professional fields in a comparative perspective: Yoga instructors, language teachers and social media content creators. Despite different ways of making use of platform services, the results are similar: considerable effort is required for additional income, but tools and information offered by the platforms can make work easier. The solo self-employed experience many of the dependencies and intensified competitiveness in online markets that are known from platform research. Only a few creators succeed in finding their way out of precarious self-employment through platform work. The article argues for a stronger connection of the two fields of research and for improving the conditions of platform labour through institutional provisions for solo self-employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adjusted headcount ratio from the multidimensional poverty measures has been used in cross-sectional research on the labour market to study the cumulative aspects of multiple job deprivations. This article takes advantage of the decomposition property of this method to develop a dynamic model for examining and understanding the transitions between precarious employment dimensions and index changes from a longitudinal perspective using panel data from Chile. Evidence produced by this method shows multidimensional precarious employment traps in women, while men suffer greater deprivations in the social protection dimension despite economic growth and the overall decrease in the multidimensional deprivation index. Both results would not be evident if only a cross-sectional analysis were used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of research is to analyse the impact of population ageing process on labour force market, as well as economic factors on the transition from labour activity to pension in the Republic of Moldova. The change in the structure of labour force to wards elder ages, as well as interruption of active economic activity and retirement is one of the factors in economic growth slowdown, which is conditioned by a reduction of labour force reproduction and its growth. In this situation, in order to mitigate the negative consequences of labour force deficit, it is necessary to take effective measures to increase labour productivity not only to ensure economic growth, but also to ensure the welfare of the country's population and meet the necessities of an increased share of the population-dependents (both the elderly population and children under 15). Taking into account the relevance of the above-mentioned problem, the analysis of the relationship between economic factors and the transition from labour activity to pension in the conditions of demographic ageing was carried out, including the evaluation of the role of economic factors in making a decision to exit from the labour market to pension. In this context, the comparative quantitative and qualitative analysis of tendencies in the economically active and employed population was carried out, including pre- and pension ages and the phenomenon of precarious employment, the demographic coefficient of dependence on old age, the dependence of pension from the income level, and the financial stability of the Social Insurance Budget. The proposals to improve the effectiveness of government policies in regulation and harmonization the transition from the labour market to pension, including the continuation of active economic activity was elaborated in order to reduce the negative consequences connected with the process of population ageing and to ensure the stability of labour market development. The article is developed in the framework of the research Subprogramme "The demographic transition in the Republic of Moldova: particularities, socioeconomic implications and demographic resilience straightening" (2024-2027). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Workers in non-standard employment arrangements are often perceived as belonging to the periphery of the labour market. Consequently, many suffer from feelings of inferiority. This study explores how inferiority is expressed and experienced in the work life of non-standard workers and beyond. Interviews with 38 non-standard workers from Belgium were analysed thematically. Inferiority expresses itself through a series of metaphors: a jack of all trades, disposable product, and outsider. In addition, not having financial independence feeds into feelings of inferiority. Moreover, the labour market and social security regulations have created disparities between standard and non-standard workers that have accordingly fed experiences of inferiority as well. Finally, inferiority is perpetuated beyond the work context, for example, in the form of discrimination on the housing market and in the general image of non-standard employment as inferior by many people in society. This study highlights that governments and employers need to increase their efforts to equalise the rights and treatment between non-standard and standard workers. This could decrease non-standard workers' feelings of inferiority and consequently improve their overall well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between household employment insecurity and the risk of children's exposure to household material deprivation in Spain and Portugal. Specifically, using EU-SILC microdata for 2012, 2016 and 2020, it examines how this relationship evolved during the Post-Great Recession period. Although in both countries there was an improvement in the employment situation of individuals and families after the Great Recession, the main findings reflect an increase in the risk of children's exposure to material deprivation in households where no adults have a secure job. However, there are some differences between the two countries. In the case of Spain, the results seem to indicate that the incidence of household employment insecurity on material deprivation was higher in 2016 and 2020 than in 2012. In Portugal, the increase in the effect of employment insecurity on deprivation seems to have occurred only in 2020, the year the Covid-19 pandemic began. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]