an article by David Lain (Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK), Laura Airey and Wendy Loretto (University of Edinburgh Business School, UK) and Sarah Vickerstaff (University of Kent, Canterbury, UK) published in Ageing & Society Volume 39 Issue 10 (October 2019)
Abstract
In policy debates it is commonly claimed that older workers are entering a period of choice and control. In contrast, Guy Standing's book The Precariat: The Dangerous New Class, published in 2011, argues that older people are increasingly joining the ‘precariat’, by taking low-level jobs to supplement dwindling pension incomes.
We argue that many older workers, not just those in ‘precarious jobs’, feel a sense of ‘ontological precarity’. Pressures to work longer, combined with limited alternative employment prospects and inadequate retirement incomes, give rise to a heightened sense of precarity.
We develop a new theoretical model for understanding precarity as a lived experience, which is influenced by the intersection between precarious jobs, precarious welfare states and precarious households.
This model is then illustrated using qualitative research from two organisations in the United Kingdom: ‘Local Government’ and ‘Hospitality’. In both organisations, older workers experienced a sense of ontological precarity because they worried about the long-term sustainability of their jobs and saw limited alternative sources of retirement income. Household circumstances either reinforced interviewees’ sense of precarity, or acted as a buffer against it. This was particularly important for women, as they typically accrued smaller financial resources in their own right.
Our concluding discussion builds on this more advanced theoretical understanding of older worker precarity to call for a rethinking of state and employer support for decisions around later-life working and retirement.
Full text (PDF 23pp)
Showing posts with label precarious_work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label precarious_work. Show all posts
Saturday, 5 October 2019
Monday, 5 August 2019
Job Precarity, Contract Work, and Self-Care
an article by Sajni Lacey (UBC Okanagan) published in PARTNERSIP: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research Volume 14 Number 1 (2019)
Abstract
Job precarity is an active and real issue in the libraries.
This piece will explore job precarity as it applies libraries and the financial and emotional strain attached to it, with some strategies for self-care while applying to precarious work and in the positions themselves.
Full text (PDF 8pp)
Hazel’s comment:
The author is specifically writing about precarity in libraries but her suggestions for coping will apply to anyone who is working precariously.
Abstract
Job precarity is an active and real issue in the libraries.
This piece will explore job precarity as it applies libraries and the financial and emotional strain attached to it, with some strategies for self-care while applying to precarious work and in the positions themselves.
Full text (PDF 8pp)
Hazel’s comment:
The author is specifically writing about precarity in libraries but her suggestions for coping will apply to anyone who is working precariously.
Thursday, 14 February 2019
Expanding the Impact of the Psychology of Working: Engaging Psychology in the Struggle for Decent Work and Human Rights
an article by David L. Blustein and Maureen E. Kenny (Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, USA), Annamaria Di Fabio (University of Florence, Firenze, Italy) and Jean Guichard (Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (Paris), France) published in Journal of Career Assessment Volume 27 Issue 1 (February 2019)
Abstract
Building on new developments in the psychology of working framework (PWF) and psychology of working theory (PWT), this article proposes a rationale and research agenda for applied psychologists and career development professionals to contribute to the many challenges related to human rights and decent work. Recent and ongoing changes in the world are contributing to a significant loss of decent work, including a rise of unemployment, underemployment, and precarious work across the globe.
By failing to satisfy human needs for economic survival, social connection, and self-determination, the loss of decent work undermines individual and societal well-being, particularly for marginalized groups and those without highly marketable skills.
Informed by innovations in the PWF/PWT, we offer exemplary research agendas that focus on examining the psychological meaning and impact of economic and social protections, balancing caregiving work and market work, making work more just, and enhancing individual capacities for coping and adapting to changes in the world of work.
These examples are intended to stimulate new ideas and initiatives for psychological research that will inform and enhance efforts pertaining to work as a human right.
Abstract
Building on new developments in the psychology of working framework (PWF) and psychology of working theory (PWT), this article proposes a rationale and research agenda for applied psychologists and career development professionals to contribute to the many challenges related to human rights and decent work. Recent and ongoing changes in the world are contributing to a significant loss of decent work, including a rise of unemployment, underemployment, and precarious work across the globe.
By failing to satisfy human needs for economic survival, social connection, and self-determination, the loss of decent work undermines individual and societal well-being, particularly for marginalized groups and those without highly marketable skills.
Informed by innovations in the PWF/PWT, we offer exemplary research agendas that focus on examining the psychological meaning and impact of economic and social protections, balancing caregiving work and market work, making work more just, and enhancing individual capacities for coping and adapting to changes in the world of work.
These examples are intended to stimulate new ideas and initiatives for psychological research that will inform and enhance efforts pertaining to work as a human right.
Wednesday, 5 September 2018
Challenges and Contradictions in the ‘Normalising’ of Precarious Work
an article by Jill Rubery, Arjan Keizer and Mathew Johnson (The University of Manchester, UK) and Damian Grimshaw (The University of Manchester, UK; International Labour Organisation, Switzerland) published in Work, Employment and Society Volume 32 Issue 3 (June 2018)
Abstract
Precarious work is increasingly considered the new ‘norm’ to which employment and social protection systems must adjust.
This article explores the contradictions and tensions that arise from different processes of normalisation driven by social policies that simultaneously decommodify and recommodify labour. An expanded framework of decommodification is presented that identifies how the standard employment relationship (SER) may be extended and flexibilised to include those in precarious work, drawing examples from a recent study of precarious work across six European countries.
These decommodification processes are found to be both partial and, in some cases, coexisting with activation policies that position precarious work as an alternative to unemployment, thereby recommodifying labour.
Despite these challenges and contradictions, the article argues that a new vision of SER reform promises greater inclusion than alternative policy scenarios that give up on the regulation of employers and rely on state subsidies to mitigate against precariousness.
Abstract
Precarious work is increasingly considered the new ‘norm’ to which employment and social protection systems must adjust.
This article explores the contradictions and tensions that arise from different processes of normalisation driven by social policies that simultaneously decommodify and recommodify labour. An expanded framework of decommodification is presented that identifies how the standard employment relationship (SER) may be extended and flexibilised to include those in precarious work, drawing examples from a recent study of precarious work across six European countries.
These decommodification processes are found to be both partial and, in some cases, coexisting with activation policies that position precarious work as an alternative to unemployment, thereby recommodifying labour.
Despite these challenges and contradictions, the article argues that a new vision of SER reform promises greater inclusion than alternative policy scenarios that give up on the regulation of employers and rely on state subsidies to mitigate against precariousness.
Wednesday, 29 August 2018
Challenges and Contradictions in the ‘Normalising’ of Precarious Work
an article by Jill Rubery, Arjan Keizer and Mathew Johnson (The University of Manchester, UK) and Damian Grimshaw (The University of Manchester, UK; International Labour Organisation, Switzerland) published in Work, Employment and Society Volume 32 Issue 3 (June 2018)
Abstract
Precarious work is increasingly considered the new ‘norm’ to which employment and social protection systems must adjust.
This article explores the contradictions and tensions that arise from different processes of normalisation driven by social policies that simultaneously decommodify and recommodify labour. An expanded framework of decommodification is presented that identifies how the standard employment relationship (SER) may be extended and flexibilised to include those in precarious work, drawing examples from a recent study of precarious work across six European countries.
These decommodification processes are found to be both partial and, in some cases, coexisting with activation policies that position precarious work as an alternative to unemployment, thereby recommodifying labour.
Despite these challenges and contradictions, the article argues that a new vision of SER reform promises greater inclusion than alternative policy scenarios that give up on the regulation of employers and rely on state subsidies to mitigate against precariousness.
Abstract
Precarious work is increasingly considered the new ‘norm’ to which employment and social protection systems must adjust.
This article explores the contradictions and tensions that arise from different processes of normalisation driven by social policies that simultaneously decommodify and recommodify labour. An expanded framework of decommodification is presented that identifies how the standard employment relationship (SER) may be extended and flexibilised to include those in precarious work, drawing examples from a recent study of precarious work across six European countries.
These decommodification processes are found to be both partial and, in some cases, coexisting with activation policies that position precarious work as an alternative to unemployment, thereby recommodifying labour.
Despite these challenges and contradictions, the article argues that a new vision of SER reform promises greater inclusion than alternative policy scenarios that give up on the regulation of employers and rely on state subsidies to mitigate against precariousness.
Friday, 24 August 2018
Tackling Precarious Work in Public Supply Chains: A Comparison of Local Government Procurement Policies in Denmark, Germany and the UK
an article by Karen Jaehrling (University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany), Mathew Johnson (University of Manchester, UK), Trine P Larsen (University of Copenhagen, Denmark), Bjarke Refslund (Aalborg University, Denmark) and Damian Grimshaw (International Labour Organisation, Switzerland) published in Work, Employment and Society Volume 32 Issue 3 (June 2018)
Abstract
Through a cross-national comparative study of local government ‘best practice cases’ of socially responsible procurement in Denmark, Germany and the UK, this article critically examines the role of labour clauses in addressing issues of low wages and precarious work in public supply chains.
It provides new insights on the negotiations and outcomes of labour clauses across different stages of the policy process, including implementation and monitoring. The analysis demonstrates the importance of pragmatic alliances of progressive local politicians, unions and employers in ensuring that socially responsible procurement moves beyond rhetoric, along with supportive national and sectoral employment regimes.
Labour clauses can compensate for weak systems of labour market regulation by setting higher standards for outsourced workers, while they play a complementary role in more regulated labour markets by levelling up wages and working conditions to prevailing collectively agreed standards.
Abstract
Through a cross-national comparative study of local government ‘best practice cases’ of socially responsible procurement in Denmark, Germany and the UK, this article critically examines the role of labour clauses in addressing issues of low wages and precarious work in public supply chains.
It provides new insights on the negotiations and outcomes of labour clauses across different stages of the policy process, including implementation and monitoring. The analysis demonstrates the importance of pragmatic alliances of progressive local politicians, unions and employers in ensuring that socially responsible procurement moves beyond rhetoric, along with supportive national and sectoral employment regimes.
Labour clauses can compensate for weak systems of labour market regulation by setting higher standards for outsourced workers, while they play a complementary role in more regulated labour markets by levelling up wages and working conditions to prevailing collectively agreed standards.
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