Results
Our research has found that digital platforms offer people new work and income opportunities, as well as opportunities to receive or give social support. So-called "gig economy" platforms in particular provide much needed income opportunities for people who have a distance to regular labor markets due to their legal status or gendered care duties at home. We have established that platform-based gig work is predominantly migrant work, given how relatively easy it is for (irregular) migrants to get started on a platform. Yet we also document how gig platforms introduce new risks and vulnerabilities in the lives of already vulnerable migrants, who have to work long hours for little pay, face discrimination, lack labor protections, and can be 'deactivated' at will. Short-term rental platforms like Airbnb, meanwhile, offer the best income opportunities for households or businesses that own significant housing assets (and are mostly led by men), providing them with tailored tools/services to better monetize these assets. Meanwhile, hosts who rent out their single family home are facing increasing challenges on the platform. Finally, we have documented how platforms for volunteer-based care services form an increasingly important resource for both households in need of help and local governments facing increasing social welfare responsibilities and insufficient budgets. These "post-welfare" platforms, which have grown more popular since the Covid pandemic, primarily take on the tasks of matching care-seekers with care-givers and recruitment of new users. While this offers a new solution to ameliorate pressures on social care provision, the "logistical" approach of these platforms privileges numbers over quality (of matches) and short-term fixes over more sustainable and tailored solutions. This disadvantages the most vulnerable care seekers, who tend to be elderly women, migrants, and non-white families.
Dissemination
Members of the project team have presented research findings at various (academic and non-academic) conferences, workshops, and other types of events around the world. Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, they have also shared results via online channels. The team has organized one international academic conference and three scholarly workshops. Additionally, the PI has organized one online multi-stakeholder conference and three smaller multi-stakeholder events on location (featuring platform workers, policymakers, labor advocates, and NGOs). The PI has also been invited to give multiple (keynote) lectures at academic conferences and stakeholder events internationally. In terms of written output, the team has produced 19 publications: 12 peer-reviewed articles in international scholarly journals, five peer-reviewed chapters in scholarly books, one contribution to a collection of scholarly policy briefs, and one contribution to a collection of conference proceedings. The team has also contributed to scholarly and professional blogs (published in English, Dutch, French and Italian). Results from the Platform Labor project have also been featured in numerous (news) media, including the New York Times, New York Review of Books, and Dutch national television.
