The stress of low-paid work is making our country sick

an article by Dawn Foster published in the Guardian

In modern Britain’s zero-hours labour market, unemployment is sometimes a healthier option than taking a job


 ‘The decline of industry and casualisation of the workforce has led to a boom in jobs that are high stress, low paid and now, it seems, actively harmful.’ Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

On Tuesday Heather left her desk, locked herself into a toilet cubicle and wept for 30 minutes, covering her mouth with a fistful of toilet paper to avoid being heard by her colleagues. For the last year, the 26-year-old has been having nightmares about her workplace, and has been signed off with depression on and off for the past four months. The Glasgow customer service call centre she works in has a high turnover of staff, who are often signed off with anxiety and depression, and the constant management warnings about being laid off if calls aren’t dealt with in strict timeframes are massively stressful for staff on zero-hours contracts with barely any employment rights.

Heather’s experience isn’t unusual. Researchers from Manchester University this month released research showing poor-quality jobs are actually worse for mental health than unemployment. Adults who transitioned from unemployment into low-paid work had elevated risks for a number of health issues, especially chronic stress.

Continue reading

---