TY - JOUR AU - Lewchuk et al., Wayne PY - 2016/01/07 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - The Precarity Penalty: How Insecure Employment Disadvantages Workers and Their Families JF - Alternate Routes: A Journal of Critical Social Research JA - AR VL - 27 IS - 0 SE - Articles DO - UR - https://alternateroutes.ca/index.php/ar/article/view/22394 SP - AB - <p>This paper examines the social and economic effects of<br />precarious employment in the Greater Toronto-Hamilton area. The<br />analysis is based on data from two surveys conducted in 2011 and in 2014<br />by the Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario (PEPSO)<br />research group. The survey findings paint a picture of how low earnings<br />and economic uncertainty translate into delayed formation of<br />relationships, lower marriage rates for workers under the age of 35, and<br />fewer households with children. They also suggest that workers in<br />precarious employment are more likely to experience social isolation.<br />These findings suggest that the Precarity Penalty is not limited to<br />economic outcomes from employment but also includes disadvantages in<br />establishing healthy households and being engaged in one's community.<br />Workers in secure employment enjoy better economic outcomes from<br />employment that provide the basis for better household wellbeing and<br />increased social integration. While much has been made in recent years of<br />the unequal distribution of income, the PEPSO study also points to the<br />unequal distribution of many of the non-financial aspects of life that<br />people value including companionship, having a family and having friends.</p> ER -