Abstract
Precarious work and gender is a relatively underexplored topic. Understanding why women are disproportionately affected by precarious work is an integral part of the overall discussion on the position of women in the labor market and in the society as a whole. The main aim of the chapter is to explore some of the issues that particularly affect women in low skilled jobs by focusing on the more disadvantaged groups of migrant and undocumented migrant workers. This discussion is based on secondary data consisting of policy documents, research project reports, and academic books and journal articles. There is brief focus on three thematic areas: informal work; an intersectional approach to women’s precarity; and last but not least, the question of skills. The three themes have been selected because they interact with one another and they also cover some of the main issues experienced by migrant women in precarious employment. The chapter argues that there is scope for further research on the precariousness of women against the backdrop of an increasing casualization of more “secure” jobs.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson B (2007) A very private business: exploring the demand for migrant domestic workers. Eur J Women’s Stud 14(3):247–264
Anderson B (2010) Migration, immigration controls and the fashioning of precarious workers. Work, employment and society 24(2):300–317
Avril C, Cartier M (2014) Subordination in home service jobs: Comparing providers of home-based child care, elder care, and cleaning in France. Gender & Society 28(4):609–30
Barbier J (2011) ‘Employment precariousness in a European cross-national perspective – a sociological view over 30 years of research’, Presented at the May 2011 seminar, De-standardisation of employment, Koln University. 1–39
Barbier J, Brygoo A, Viguier F (2002) Defining and assessing precarious employment in Europe: a review of main studies and surveys – a tentative approach to precarious employment in France. ESCOPE Project Precarious Employment in Europe: A Comparative Study of Labour Market related Risks in Flexible Economies
Barbieri D, Janeckova H, Karu M, Luminari D, Madarova Z, Paats M, Reingardė, J (2017) Gender, skills and precarious work in the EU, Research note, European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)
Barnard H, Collingwood A, Wenham A, Smith E, Drake B, Leese D, Kumar A (2018) UK poverty 2018. York: JRF
Becker GS (1994) Human Capital A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Bell DNF, Blanchflower DG (2018) Underemployment and the lack of wage pressure in the UK. Natl Inst Econ Rev 243(1):R53–R61
Bell N (2019) EU Equality Law and Precarious Work in Uladzislau Belavusau and Kristin Henrard (eds.), EU Anti-Discrimination Law Beyond Gender, Hart: Oxford
Betti E (2016) Gender and Precarious Labor in a Historical Perspective: Italian Women and Precarious Work between Fordism and Post-Fordism. International Labor and Working-Class History 89:64–83
Betti E (2018) Historicizing precarious work: forty years of research in the social sciences and humanities. Int Rev Soc Hist 63(2):273–319
Bloch A, McKay S (2017) Living on the Margins: Undocumented Migrants in a Global City. Bristol: Policy Press, 2017. IV, 224
Bloch A, Sigona N, Zetter R (2012) Migration routes and strategies of young undocumented migrants in England: a qualitative perspective. Ethnic and Racial Studies 34(8):1286–1302
Bobek A, Pembroke S, Wickham J (2018) Social implications of precarious work. TASC, Dublin
Bosch G (2004) Towards a New Standard Employment Relationship in Western Europe’ British Journal of Industrial Relations, 42:4 December 2004 0007–1080 pp. 617–636
Bourdieu P (1998) Acts of resistance: against the new myths of our time. Polity Press, Cambridge
Branch EH, Hanley H (2017) A racial-gender lens on precarious nonstandard employment. Res Sociol Work 31:183–213
Broughton A, Biletta I, Kullander (2010) Flexible forms of work: ‘very atypical’ contractual arrangements, EF/10/10/EN, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, March 2010
Broughton A, Green M, Rickard R, Swift S, Eichhorst W, Tobsch V, Magda I, Lewandowski P, Keister R, Jonaviciene D, Ramos Martin N E, Valsamis D, Tros F (2016) Precarious employment in Europe: patterns, trends and policy strategies, European Parliament
Campbell I, Price R (2016) Precarious work and precarious workers: towards an improved conceptualisation. Econ Labour Relat Rev 27(3):314–332. https://doi.org/10.1177/1035304616652074
Countouris N (2019) Defining and regulating work relations for the future of work. International Labour Organisation
Courtois A, O’Keefe T (2019) ‘Not one of the family’: Gender and precarious work in the neoliberal university. Gender Work and Organization, 26(4):463–479
Cranford C, Vosko LF, Zukewich N (2003) The Gender of Precariousness in the Canadian Labour Force. Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations 58(3):454–482
De Paolo M, Brunello G (2016) Education as a tool for the economic integration of migrants, EENEE Analytical Report No. 27, Luxemburg: Publications Office of the European Union
Drydakis N, MacDonald P, Bozani V, Chiotis V (2017) Inclusive recruitment? Hiring discrimination against older workers, GLO Discussion Paper Series 103, Global Labor Organization (GLO)
European Parliament (2017) Working conditions and precarious employment. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2017-0290_EN.html. Accessed 2 Feb 2020
Fantone L (2007) Precarious changes: gender and generational politics in contemporary Italy. Feminist Review, No. 87, Italian Feminisms (2007), pp. 5–20
Finotelli C, Arango J (2011) Regularisation of unauthorised immigrants in Italy and Spain: determinants and effects. Doc Anàl Geogr 57(3):495–515
Fudge J (2016) A New Vocabulary and Imaginary for Labour Law: Taking Legal Constitution, Gender, and Social Reproduction Seriously. In: Brodie D, Nicole B, Busby, Zahn R (eds) The Future Regulation of Work: New Concepts, New Paradigms. Palgrave Macmillan, London
Fudge J, Owens R (eds) (2006) Precarious work, women and the new economy: the challenge to legal norms. Hart, Oxford, pp 201–222
Furlong A, Goodwin J, O’Connor H, Hadfield S, Hall S, Lowden K, Plugor R (2018) Young people in the labour market: past, present, future. Routledge, Oxon/New York
Gregory M, Connolly S (2008) Feature: the price of reconciliation: part-time work, families and women’s satisfaction. The Economic Journal 118(526):1–1
Grimshaw D, Johnson M, Rubery J, Keizer A (2016) Reducing precarious work in Europe through social dialogue: protective gaps and the role of social dialogue in Europe. Report for the European Commission, Institute of Work, Skills and Training, University of Duisburg-Essen
Grimshaw D, Fagan C, Hebson G, Tavora I (eds) (2017) Making work more equal: a new labour market segmentation approach. Manchester University Press, Manchester
Harvey D (2005) A brief history of neoliberalism. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Hewison K, Kalleberg AL (2013) Precarious work and flexibilization in South and Southeast Asia. American Behavioral Scientist 57(4):395–402
ILO (2012) From precarious work to decent work. Outcome document to the workers’ symposium on policies and regulations to combat precarious employment. International Labour Organisation, Geneva
ILO (2014) Global Employment Trends 2014: Risk of a jobless recovery? / International Labour Office. Geneva: ILO, 2014
ILO (2016) Social protection policy paper: social protection for domestic workers: key policy trends and statistics. International Labour Organisation
ILO (2019) World employment and social outlook: trends 2019 International Labour Office. ILO, Geneva
ITUC (2010) Action guide: Decent work, decent life for domestic workers, Brussels: ITUC
Jokela M (2017) The role of domestic employment policies in shaping precarious work. Social Policy & Administration 51(2):286–307
Kalleberg AL (2009) Precarious work, insecure workers: employment relations in transition. American Sociological Review 74(1):1–22
Kalleberg A, Vallas S (2018) Probing precarious work: theory, research, and politics. Res Sociol Work 31:1–30
Klehe UC, Koen J, De Pater IE, Kira M (2018) Too old to tango? Job loss and job search among older workers. In: Klehe UC, van Hooft EAJ (Eds.) The Oxford handbook of job loss and job search (pp. 433–464). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press
Klenner C, Menke K, Pfahl S (2012) Flexible Familienernährerinnen. Moderne Geschlechterarrangements oder prekäre Konstellationen? Barbara Budrich, Opladen
Koukiadaki A, Katsampouras I (2017) Temporary contracts, precarious employment, employees’ fundamental rights and EU employment law. Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs
Kretsos L (2010) The persistent pandemic of precariousness: young people at work. In: Tremmel J (ed) A Young Generation Under Pressure? March, New York: Springer
Kretsos L, Livanos I (2016) The extent and determinants of precarious employment in Europe. Int J Manpow 37(1):25–43
Kring SA (2017) Gender in employment policies and programmes: What works for women? Employment Working Paper No. 235. ILO
Lambert R, Herod A (eds) (2016) Neoliberal Capitalism and Precarious Work Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham (UK) and Northampton (USA)
Lawton NR, Calveley M, Forson C (2015) Untangling multiple inequalities: intersectionality, work and globalisation. Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation 9(2) (Winter 2015):7–13
Lewis H, Dwyer P, Hodkinson S et al (2015) Hyper-precarious lives: migrants, work and forced labour in the Global North. Prog Hum Geogr 39(5):580–600
Markova E, Paraskevopoulou A, McKay S (2019) Treading lightly: regularised migrant workers in Europe. Migr Lett 16(3):451–461. ISSN 1741-8992
McDowell J (2018) Men’s talk in women’s work: ‘Doing being a nurse’. In The handbook of workplace discourse, edited by Bernadette Vine. London: Routledge
McKay S, Markova E, Paraskevopoulou A (2011) Undocumented Workers’ Transitions: Legal Status, Migration, and Work in Europe, Routledge
McKay S, Jefferys S, Paraksevopoulou A, Keles J (2012) Study on precarious work and social rights. London Metropolitan University, London
Mosoetsa S, Stillermann J, Tilly C, (eds.) (2016) Precarious Labor in Global Perspective, Special Issue. International Labour and working-class history 89:5–1
Pitrou A (1978) Vivre sans famille? les solidarités familiales dans le monde d’aujourd’hui. Privat, Toulouse
Premji S (2018) “It’s totally destroyed our life”: exploring the pathways and mechanisms between precarious employment and health and well-being among immigrant men and women in Toronto. Forum Italicum 48(1):8–21. https://doi.org/10.1177/001458580604000102
Presser HB, Gornick JC, Parashar S (2008) Gender and nonstandard work hours in 12 European countries. Mon Labor Rev 131:83–103. http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2008/02/art5full.pdf
Prosser T (2016) Dualization or liberalization? Investigating precarious work in eight European countries. Work, Employment and Society 30(6):949–965. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017015609036
Rodgers G, Rodgers J (1989) Precarious jobs in labour market regulation: the growth of atypical employment in Western Europe. International Labour Organisation, Geneva
Rubery J, Piasna A (2017) Labour market segmentation and deregulation of employment protection in the EU. In: Piasna A, Myant M (eds) Myths of employment deregulation: how it neither creates jobs nor reduces labour market segmentation. ETUI, Brussels
Sargeant M (2014) Domestic workers: Vulnerable workers in precarious work. E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies 3(1):1–19
Scott J, Dex S, Joshi H (2008) Women and employment: changing lives and new challenges, Edward Elgar Publishing
Seymour R (2012) We are all precarious – on the concept of the ‘precariat’ and its misuses. New Left Project, February 2012
Sheen V (2010) The social risks of precarious employment for women. Paper presented to International Social Security Association International Policy and Research conference on social security
Standing G (2011) The precariat – the new dangerous class. Bloomsbury, London
Sternberg C (2019) The hidden hand of domestic labor: domestic employers’ work practices in Chicago, USA. Front Sociol 4:80. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2019.00080
Tapia M, Alberti G (2018) Unpacking the Category of Migrant Workers in Trade Union Research: A Multi-Level Approach to Migrant Intersectionalities. Work, Employment and Society 33(2):314–325
Triantafyllidou A, Marchetti S (2015) Employers, Agencies and Immigration: Paying for Care, Farnham: Ashgate
Villegas PE (2019) “I made myself small like a cat and ran away”: workplace sexual harassment, precarious immigration status and legal violence. J Gend Stud 28(6):674–686. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2019.1604326
Vosko LF (2006) Precarious employment: towards an improved understanding of labour market insecurity. In: Vosko LF (ed) Precarious employment: understanding labour market insecurity in Canada. McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal, pp 3–42
Waite L, Lewis H (2017) Precarious irregular migrants and their sharing economies. Ann Am Assoc Geogr 107(3):964–978
Warren T, Lyonette C (2018) Good, bad and very bad part-time jobs for women? Re-examining the importance of occupational class for job quality since the ‘great recession’ in Britain. Work, Employment and Society, 32(4):747–767
Webster J (2016) Microworkers of the gig economy: separate and precarious. New Labor Forum 25(3):56–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/1095796016661511
Yilmaz G, Ledwith S (2017) Migration and Domestic Work. Springer Books, Springer
Young M (2010) Gendered differences in precarious work settings. Relat Ind 65(1):74–97
Zou M (2015) The legal construction of hyper-dependence and hyper-precarity in migrant work relations. Int J Comp Labour Law Ind Relat 31(2):141–162
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Paraskevopoulou, A. (2020). Gender and Precarious Work. In: Zimmermann, K. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_30-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_30-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57365-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences