Abstract
This chapter examines the topic of precarious employment in the context of health outcomes in two global regions: (a) Latin America and the Caribbean and (b) East Asia. First, drawing from several recent reports released by the International Labour Organization, it compares and contrasts the concepts of precarious employment and nonstandard employment. Second, it offers a glimpse of the macro-level context that enabled the fast rise of precarious employment within both the Global North and the Global South, albeit with distinct manifestations, with significant and lasting effects on population health and health inequities. Third, it recapitulates key measurement considerations that pose challenges for researchers setting out to measure the impact of precarious employment and related constructs on health and social outcomes. Next, building on research from two distinct global regions, this chapter summarizes labor market trends, specific precarious employment measurement approaches, and mixed findings from studies concerned with the impact of precarious employment and other similar concepts on a range of health outcomes. The concluding statements cover limitations in the extant literature and future research and policy recommendations.
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Muntaner, C. et al. (2020). Precarious Employment Conditions, Exploitation, and Health in Two Global Regions: Latin America and the Caribbean and East Asia. In: Theorell, T. (eds) Handbook of Socioeconomic Determinants of Occupational Health. Handbook Series in Occupational Health Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05031-3_39-1
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