Examining the impact of two dimensions of precarious employment, vulnerability and insecurity on the self-reported health of men, women and migrants in Australia
Precarious employment is increasing and adversely affects health. We aimed to investigate how perception of precariousness in current employment impacts gender and migrant workers in Australia. Using cross-sectional interviews of 1292 workers born in Australia, New Zealand, India and the Philippines...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI
2020
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP160100660 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90933 |
| _version_ | 1848765464646254592 |
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| author | Daly, Alison Schenker, M.B. Ronda-Perez, E. Reid, Alison |
| author_facet | Daly, Alison Schenker, M.B. Ronda-Perez, E. Reid, Alison |
| author_sort | Daly, Alison |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Precarious employment is increasing and adversely affects health. We aimed to investigate how perception of precariousness in current employment impacts gender and migrant workers in Australia. Using cross-sectional interviews of 1292 workers born in Australia, New Zealand, India and the Philippines, data were collected on self-reported health, employment conditions and sociodemographics. Factor analysis of nine questions about perceptions of current employment revealed two dimensions, vulnerability and insecurity. Women had higher vulnerability scores (µ = 6.5 vs. µ = 5.5, t = 5.40, p-value (p) < 0.000) but lower insecurity scores (µ = 8.6 vs. µ = 9.3 t = −4.160 p < 0.0003) than men. Filipino-born workers had higher vulnerability compared with other migrant workers (µ = 6.5 vs. µ = 5.8 t = −3.47 p < 0.0003), and workers born in India had higher insecurity compared with other migrant workers (µ = 9.8 vs. µ = 8.9, t = −6.1 p < 0.0001). While the prevalence of insecurity varied by migrant status, the negative effect on health was higher for Australian-born workers than migrants. Increasing levels of vulnerability and insecurity impacted self-reported health negatively (Coefficient (Coef).0.34 p < 0.0001; Coef.0.25 p < 0.0001, respectively). The combination of high vulnerability and high insecurity had the greatest impact on health (Coef. 2.37 p = 0.002), followed by high vulnerability and moderate insecurity (Coef. 2.0 p = 0.007). Our study suggests that understanding both changes in employment conditions over time as well as knowledge of cultural patterns may offer the best chance of understanding the impact of precarious employment experiences. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:35:40Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-90933 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:35:40Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | MDPI |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-909332023-05-05T07:44:00Z Examining the impact of two dimensions of precarious employment, vulnerability and insecurity on the self-reported health of men, women and migrants in Australia Daly, Alison Schenker, M.B. Ronda-Perez, E. Reid, Alison Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Environmental Sciences Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Environmental Sciences & Ecology precarious employment migrant workers cross-sectional self-reported health PSYCHOSOCIAL WORKING-CONDITIONS GENERAL HEALTH POPULATION WORKERS ASSOCIATIONS MIGRATION INJURIES MODELS cross-sectional migrant workers precarious employment self-reported health Adolescent Adult Aged Australia Cross-Sectional Studies Employment Female Health Status Humans India Male Middle Aged New Zealand Philippines Self Report Transients and Migrants Young Adult Humans Cross-Sectional Studies Health Status Adolescent Adult Aged Middle Aged Transients and Migrants Employment Philippines India Australia New Zealand Female Male Young Adult Self Report Precarious employment is increasing and adversely affects health. We aimed to investigate how perception of precariousness in current employment impacts gender and migrant workers in Australia. Using cross-sectional interviews of 1292 workers born in Australia, New Zealand, India and the Philippines, data were collected on self-reported health, employment conditions and sociodemographics. Factor analysis of nine questions about perceptions of current employment revealed two dimensions, vulnerability and insecurity. Women had higher vulnerability scores (µ = 6.5 vs. µ = 5.5, t = 5.40, p-value (p) < 0.000) but lower insecurity scores (µ = 8.6 vs. µ = 9.3 t = −4.160 p < 0.0003) than men. Filipino-born workers had higher vulnerability compared with other migrant workers (µ = 6.5 vs. µ = 5.8 t = −3.47 p < 0.0003), and workers born in India had higher insecurity compared with other migrant workers (µ = 9.8 vs. µ = 8.9, t = −6.1 p < 0.0001). While the prevalence of insecurity varied by migrant status, the negative effect on health was higher for Australian-born workers than migrants. Increasing levels of vulnerability and insecurity impacted self-reported health negatively (Coefficient (Coef).0.34 p < 0.0001; Coef.0.25 p < 0.0001, respectively). The combination of high vulnerability and high insecurity had the greatest impact on health (Coef. 2.37 p = 0.002), followed by high vulnerability and moderate insecurity (Coef. 2.0 p = 0.007). Our study suggests that understanding both changes in employment conditions over time as well as knowledge of cultural patterns may offer the best chance of understanding the impact of precarious employment experiences. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90933 10.3390/ijerph17207540 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP160100660 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ MDPI fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Environmental Sciences Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Environmental Sciences & Ecology precarious employment migrant workers cross-sectional self-reported health PSYCHOSOCIAL WORKING-CONDITIONS GENERAL HEALTH POPULATION WORKERS ASSOCIATIONS MIGRATION INJURIES MODELS cross-sectional migrant workers precarious employment self-reported health Adolescent Adult Aged Australia Cross-Sectional Studies Employment Female Health Status Humans India Male Middle Aged New Zealand Philippines Self Report Transients and Migrants Young Adult Humans Cross-Sectional Studies Health Status Adolescent Adult Aged Middle Aged Transients and Migrants Employment Philippines India Australia New Zealand Female Male Young Adult Self Report Daly, Alison Schenker, M.B. Ronda-Perez, E. Reid, Alison Examining the impact of two dimensions of precarious employment, vulnerability and insecurity on the self-reported health of men, women and migrants in Australia |
| title | Examining the impact of two dimensions of precarious employment, vulnerability and insecurity on the self-reported health of men, women and migrants in Australia |
| title_full | Examining the impact of two dimensions of precarious employment, vulnerability and insecurity on the self-reported health of men, women and migrants in Australia |
| title_fullStr | Examining the impact of two dimensions of precarious employment, vulnerability and insecurity on the self-reported health of men, women and migrants in Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Examining the impact of two dimensions of precarious employment, vulnerability and insecurity on the self-reported health of men, women and migrants in Australia |
| title_short | Examining the impact of two dimensions of precarious employment, vulnerability and insecurity on the self-reported health of men, women and migrants in Australia |
| title_sort | examining the impact of two dimensions of precarious employment, vulnerability and insecurity on the self-reported health of men, women and migrants in australia |
| topic | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Environmental Sciences Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Environmental Sciences & Ecology precarious employment migrant workers cross-sectional self-reported health PSYCHOSOCIAL WORKING-CONDITIONS GENERAL HEALTH POPULATION WORKERS ASSOCIATIONS MIGRATION INJURIES MODELS cross-sectional migrant workers precarious employment self-reported health Adolescent Adult Aged Australia Cross-Sectional Studies Employment Female Health Status Humans India Male Middle Aged New Zealand Philippines Self Report Transients and Migrants Young Adult Humans Cross-Sectional Studies Health Status Adolescent Adult Aged Middle Aged Transients and Migrants Employment Philippines India Australia New Zealand Female Male Young Adult Self Report |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP160100660 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90933 |