Over the past 20 years, temporary employment has become increasingly common in Canada and around the world.
COVID-19 and the resulting economic crisis have only intensified this trend. Now more than ever before, permanent, full-time jobs are being replaced with precarious employment.
Past research indicates that people experiencing marginalization and exclusion — women, immigrants, people with disabilities, and people who are racialized — are particularly susceptible to the negative effects of economic crises.
How is precarious employment affecting workers’ wellbeing — during and after the pandemic?
This mixed-methods study will examine six countries’ strategies for mitigating the economic effects of the pandemic, and explore their effects on workers’ wellbeing. MAP is leading the Canadian analysis, and will compare our findings to results from Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Chile, and USA.
Research questions:
- What are the experiences of workers with the highest precarious employment conditions during the COVID-19 economic and health crisis?
- How have employment-related government and workplace policy responses in the wake of the COVID-19 virus supported or neglected workers with the highest precarious employment conditions?
- Are participants’ employment-related opportunities, challenges and policy supports during the COVID-19 pandemic related to their exclusion based on their gender, age, and other worker attributes (e.g. essential worker status, race, migration status, disability status, experience with incarceration)?
The Outcome
Our research and policy analysis will provide important insight into not only the challenges facing the growing number of workers worldwide without job protections or workplace benefits, but also the path to fairer and healthier working conditions worldwide.
