Periodic Reporting for period 2 - REsPecTMe (Resolving Precariousness: Advancing the Theory and Measurement of Precariousness across the paid/unpaid work continuum)
Reporting period: 2021-04-01 to 2022-09-30
Across Europe, an increasing number of people struggle to make ends meet despite working very long hours under demanding conditions. The ResPecTME project takes this phenomenon as a starting point by raising a high and relevant social and scientific question i.e. how to understand the relationship between (unpaid/paid) work and precarity.
The aim of ResPecTMe is to provide a new analytical perspective on the social effects of unpaid work (within paid work) by generating a new theory and measurement of, and monitoring tools for, precariousness by using a novel analytical and methodological perspective from a paid and unpaid work perspective.
During the qualitative phase of the study, our objectives were (1) to develop a new theory of precariousness that breaks with the traditional dichotomy in sociology of seeing work as either paid (productive/waged) or unpaid (reproductive/unwaged), and (2) to empower workers by making their work conditions visible and their voices heard. Our research design foresaw collecting qualitative interviews and diaries across three work areas (creative, gig, care) in eight European countries (fig. 1). We collected 413 biographical narrative interviews, 88 audio diaries and 94 expert interviews for our analysis. During our analysis, we identified various forms of unpaid and underpaid work underlying paid work. Examples include work intensification and extensification, waiting times, perpetual availability, preparatory and finishing activities, and having to invest one’s own material and financial resources into the means of production. We developed a novel and theoretically grounded analytical framework that sheds light on how people engage in unpaid labour, why they do so and how it contributes to precariousness. We pay close attention to macro-level labour markets and employment dynamics in both industries and countries and micro-level stigmatization processes. Our aim is to illustrate how unpaid work is becoming an important dimension of precariousness, which is at the core of a book in preparation.
website: https://soc.kuleuven.be/respectme
The aim of ResPecTMe is to provide a new analytical perspective on the social effects of unpaid work (within paid work) by generating a new theory and measurement of, and monitoring tools for, precariousness by using a novel analytical and methodological perspective from a paid and unpaid work perspective.
During the qualitative phase of the study, our objectives were (1) to develop a new theory of precariousness that breaks with the traditional dichotomy in sociology of seeing work as either paid (productive/waged) or unpaid (reproductive/unwaged), and (2) to empower workers by making their work conditions visible and their voices heard. Our research design foresaw collecting qualitative interviews and diaries across three work areas (creative, gig, care) in eight European countries (fig. 1). We collected 413 biographical narrative interviews, 88 audio diaries and 94 expert interviews for our analysis. During our analysis, we identified various forms of unpaid and underpaid work underlying paid work. Examples include work intensification and extensification, waiting times, perpetual availability, preparatory and finishing activities, and having to invest one’s own material and financial resources into the means of production. We developed a novel and theoretically grounded analytical framework that sheds light on how people engage in unpaid labour, why they do so and how it contributes to precariousness. We pay close attention to macro-level labour markets and employment dynamics in both industries and countries and micro-level stigmatization processes. Our aim is to illustrate how unpaid work is becoming an important dimension of precariousness, which is at the core of a book in preparation.
website: https://soc.kuleuven.be/respectme
Our data collection was successful, despite challenges due to Covid-19. We gathered data from experts in the field, supplemented by biographical narrative workers’ interviews and working diaries in the three work areas investigated: care, gig, creative sector.
Our researchers underwent extensive training in qualitative research, and biographical methods in particular.
We developed a new theory, focusing on the relationship between labour market structures and stigma mechanisms operationalized through the ‘ideal worker image’. This work will be presented in a book that will explain how the interplay between the latter leads to unpaid labour, which exacerbates and accounts for the precarious social conditions workers experience. Our findings are also published in research reports, policy briefs, and peer-reviewed international articles. Issues addressed include:
(1) different forms of unpaid work and institutional contexts in the gig economy;
(2) unpaid work as a systemic feature of digital platform labour;
(3) the relationship between individuals’ investment in skills and productivity, and the inadequate compensation in crowdwork both in terms of financial rewards and time sovereignty;
(4) the blurring of temporal boundaries, and its effect on workers and families, including domestic reproductive labour;
(5) the growing importance of ‘grey zones’ at the interface between work and home; and
(6) our informants’ experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic in different work areas.
Our findings are disseminated to a broader audience through a variety of channels, such as the project’s website, newspapers, social media platforms, newsletters, blogs, and podcasts. The PI is regularly invited by EU-based organizations to give keynote lectures, to participate in roundtable discussions and to act as an expert advisor on related issues. In April '22 we presented the first Fairwork Belgium Report, where we ranked labour platforms according to their working conditions. The panel consisted of representatives of the EU Commission, EU Parliament, academics, and trade unions.
We presented our work at several scientific conferences such as SASE (Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics) in 2020, 2021, 2022.
For keeping a sharp focus, the project's advisory board consisting of experts in the field meets once a year and provides a critical audience for presenting our findings and obtaining valuable feedback.
Our PI was awarded with ‘Chaire Jacques Leclerq’ of the School of Political and Social Science at the UCLouvain and our PhD researcher, Claudia Mará, was accepted to the selective Europaeum Scholars Programme, which offers participants the opportunity to network, and connect their research with the world of policymaking.
While we are still finalizing publications based on our qualitative sample, the ResPecTME project is now in the quantitative stage. Based on the developed theory and a thorough literature study, Dr. Hyojin Seo and Professor Bart Meuleman designed a survey questionnaire which has gone through the pilot phase in the UK. The questionnaire will be refined and applied in national panels. The aim is to develop an instrument to measure precariousness based on unpaid work.
Our researchers underwent extensive training in qualitative research, and biographical methods in particular.
We developed a new theory, focusing on the relationship between labour market structures and stigma mechanisms operationalized through the ‘ideal worker image’. This work will be presented in a book that will explain how the interplay between the latter leads to unpaid labour, which exacerbates and accounts for the precarious social conditions workers experience. Our findings are also published in research reports, policy briefs, and peer-reviewed international articles. Issues addressed include:
(1) different forms of unpaid work and institutional contexts in the gig economy;
(2) unpaid work as a systemic feature of digital platform labour;
(3) the relationship between individuals’ investment in skills and productivity, and the inadequate compensation in crowdwork both in terms of financial rewards and time sovereignty;
(4) the blurring of temporal boundaries, and its effect on workers and families, including domestic reproductive labour;
(5) the growing importance of ‘grey zones’ at the interface between work and home; and
(6) our informants’ experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic in different work areas.
Our findings are disseminated to a broader audience through a variety of channels, such as the project’s website, newspapers, social media platforms, newsletters, blogs, and podcasts. The PI is regularly invited by EU-based organizations to give keynote lectures, to participate in roundtable discussions and to act as an expert advisor on related issues. In April '22 we presented the first Fairwork Belgium Report, where we ranked labour platforms according to their working conditions. The panel consisted of representatives of the EU Commission, EU Parliament, academics, and trade unions.
We presented our work at several scientific conferences such as SASE (Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics) in 2020, 2021, 2022.
For keeping a sharp focus, the project's advisory board consisting of experts in the field meets once a year and provides a critical audience for presenting our findings and obtaining valuable feedback.
Our PI was awarded with ‘Chaire Jacques Leclerq’ of the School of Political and Social Science at the UCLouvain and our PhD researcher, Claudia Mará, was accepted to the selective Europaeum Scholars Programme, which offers participants the opportunity to network, and connect their research with the world of policymaking.
While we are still finalizing publications based on our qualitative sample, the ResPecTME project is now in the quantitative stage. Based on the developed theory and a thorough literature study, Dr. Hyojin Seo and Professor Bart Meuleman designed a survey questionnaire which has gone through the pilot phase in the UK. The questionnaire will be refined and applied in national panels. The aim is to develop an instrument to measure precariousness based on unpaid work.
The novel and grounded theorisation of precarious work takes into account unpaid work (i.e. unremunerated ‘effort’ people undertake as ‘time’ and other resources) at the continuum of paid and unpaid (work) activities and is based on the qualitative project data collection and analysis. As result of our theorisation we challenge assumed relationships between individual investment in skills and productivity, and positive outcomes in terms of higher wages and ‘time sovereignty’ as at the core of ‘human capital’ theory. We do also extend understanding of the obscuring of the work and no-work (e.g. free time) boundaries (e.g. in the platform economy) by illustrating how workers’ skill development and signaling does not result in better remuneration or in increased autonomy. We do also contribute to revealing the dynamics underpinning the ‘autonomy paradox’ by shedding light on the ‘workers’ autonomy regime’ and contribute to provide a better classification of the different forms (time- and no-time based) of unpaid work undertaken by workers.
We are now in the stage of translating this theory into quantifiable indicators in order to create a survey to identify various types of unpaid work both within and outside of paid jobs. Through the survey we will collect quantitative data across different sectors (not limited to the three sectors that we originally focused on) and different European countries. The data will then be used to empirically examine to what extent workers in Europe do unpaid work, how it unfolds across different sectors and different social groups, and potentially how it varies across countries. At the end of the project, we expect to be able to produce a survey that can be widely used in labour market research and that can be incorporated into existing large-scale national/international surveys (such as ESS). The survey results are expected to provide empirical evidence of the widespread experiences of unpaid work and how it contributes to precariousness among workers across Europe and consequently the importance of understanding work at paid-unpaid continuum.
We are now in the stage of translating this theory into quantifiable indicators in order to create a survey to identify various types of unpaid work both within and outside of paid jobs. Through the survey we will collect quantitative data across different sectors (not limited to the three sectors that we originally focused on) and different European countries. The data will then be used to empirically examine to what extent workers in Europe do unpaid work, how it unfolds across different sectors and different social groups, and potentially how it varies across countries. At the end of the project, we expect to be able to produce a survey that can be widely used in labour market research and that can be incorporated into existing large-scale national/international surveys (such as ESS). The survey results are expected to provide empirical evidence of the widespread experiences of unpaid work and how it contributes to precariousness among workers across Europe and consequently the importance of understanding work at paid-unpaid continuum.