Unit 4 - Work & Health Flashcards
What can unemployment lead to?
- Material and social deprivation (things you do not have)
- Psychological stress
- Adoption of health-threatening coping behaviours
What is unemployment associated with?
Physical & mental health problems
eg. depression, anxiety, increased suicide rates
What can job insecurity cause?
Burnout
Mental/psychological problems
Poor self-rated health
Variety of somatic complaints
What is OECD?
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
What does OECD guidelines set?
Set standards for responsible business conduct across a range of issues (eg. human rights, labour rights, and the environment)
How is Canada ranked according to the OECD guidelines?
Ranks very poorly
- 35 out of 36 in employment protection index of rules and regulations that protects employment and provides benefits to temporary workers
Why are working conditions important SDoH?
- Great amount of time spent in workplace
- People already vulnerable are most likely to experience
health threatening working conditions - Depending on the job placement, there may be benefits that will decide if you have access to other things (eg. dentist)
- Types of job –> safety
What are the key work dimensions that shape health outcomes?
Job strain
Effort-reward imbalance
Organizational justice
Work hours
Status inconsistency
Precarious work
Precarious employment
Work is uncertain, insecure, unstable
- Insecurity exists across various dimensions of work and social & economic vulnerability
eg. Temporary, part time, contractual jobs
- Uncertain when will work next, when will get paycheck, etc
How is healthcare as a precarious profession in Canada?
Health care is third in the % of professionals in each industry reporting have some type of precarious work
- Most jobs in healthcare are temporary
More than __ in __ Canadian professionals have precarious jobs
More than 1 in 5 Canadian professionals have precarious jobs
How does age affect precarious jobs?
Ppl 65+ have more precarious work
- Second place is ppl 20-34 yrs old
- Ageist
- Many ppl 65+ are going back to work after retirement
- New to the field, just starting (ppl 20-34 yrs old)
Historical labour market transformation (4 stages)
- Farming/agriculure
- 1st & 2nd industrial revolution
- railroad
- unions
- 3rd industrial revolution - technology/knowledge economy
- electricity
- credentials (qualifications)
- 4th industrial revolution - artificial intelligence
- some deliver fast samples to labs
- some do surgeries with doctors
Historical labour market transformation (4 stages)
- Farming/agriculture
- 1st & 2nd industrial revolution
- railroad
- unions
- 3rd industrial revolution - technology/knowledge economy
- electricity
- credentials (qualifications)
- 4th industrial revolution - artificial intelligence
- some deliver fast samples to labs
- some do surgeries with doctors
How is the labour market today?
- Careers related to the development of projects (consultant, project management, coordinator)
- Work in several jobs over the course of a lifetime
- jobs are very unstable
- Creates “boundaryless” (nomadic/unstable) careers vs. “vertical ladder” careers
- Need a lot of credentials to get a job
- can get a lot of degrees
- can get a lot of certifications online
Boundaryless career
Often represents tech/knowledge economy: mobile
work, networks and virtual communities of practice
Traditional Career
Represents industrial work: one stop shop, first job/last
job, climbing the vertical ladder
Cons of boundaryless career
- More flexibility in jobs & self-employment
- False sense of self-employment
- Precarious work (lack of stability, permanence and/or benefits)
- New classifications of employment statuses (casual, contract, temporary, reduced-time, part-time, etc.)
– “gig” economy
Unemployment rate
Number of ppl in the labour force (15-64 yrs old) actively looking for a job & ppl who are able to work
Employment rate
Employed divided by the total labour force
Who is included in the unemployment rate?
Homeless ppl
Ppl who do not want to work
Ppl who are able to work
Not included:
- Ppl who are retired
- Students (full-time)
- Ppl who physically can not work
Precariat
Precarious (insecure) + proletariat (working class)
What does security equal?
Control
Job security
Enables economic and social inclusion
Income security
Economic inclusion
- Has multiple streams of income (will be fine economically)
Intersectionality
The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage
Racialized Canadians throughout the years
1980 - 5.% were racialized Canadians
2006 - 16.2%
2031 - 32% 1/3 of Canada’s population
Pay gap b/w racialized Canadians
- Racialized workers earn 81.4 cents per dollar compared to non-racialized workers
- Will not see this in strong unions
Why is there a pay gap between races in Canada in the workplace?
- Racialized workers are more willing to work but have a harder time finding jobs
- Jobs found are more likely to be part-time, low-wage, insecure
Employment Inequity:
Gender-based inequity
Non-racialized women earn 69 cents per dollar non-racialized men earn
Women earn less than men
Employment Inequity:
Race-based inequity
- racialized men earn 76 cents per dollar non-racialized men earn
- racialized women earn 85 cents for every dollar non-racialized women earn
Non-racialized men earn more than racialized men
Non-racialized women earn more than racialized women
Employment Inequity:
Gender-based + race-based inequity (intersectionality)
Racialized women earn 58 cents per dollar non-racialized men earn
Racialized women earn about half what non-racialized men earn
How did Covid-19 affect the labour market for Indigenous and Racialized workers?
- Impacts more severe for Indigenous and racialized
households (greater economic hardship) - Employment in industries at risk of job losses
- Employment in occupations at risk of infections
- Had to work during the outbreak of covid
- Unemployment and employment gap
% of households facing hardships 2020-2022
28% of Indigenous Peoples
31% of racialized households
16% of white households
Racialized households affected the most, then Indigenous ppl, then white households
Unemployment Rates:
Indigenous vs Non-Indigenous
- Women overall have higher unemployment rates
- Indigenous women has the highest unemployment rate, then non-Indigenous women, then Indigenous men, then non-indigenous men
- Unemployment rate has been increasing for Indigenous women in 2021
- Unemployment rate has been decreasing for non-Indigenous women in 2021
- Unemployment rate has been decreasing for both groups of men
- Indigenous men still has a higher % of unemployment rate than non-Indigenous men
Unemployment Rates:
Racialized vs White Workers
- Women are employed in occupations with a higher risk of infections
- Racialized women and white women are very similar in percentage
- White men are least likely to be in those occupations
- Unemployment rate has been decreasing for both groups in 2021
- Racialized group still has a higher % of unemployment even though both groups are decreasing
- Employment rates for both groups are increasing
- Racialized group still has a lower % of being employed
- But the gap b/w the % of the two groups has been decreasing compared to 2020
Jobs in pandemic
Racialized workers concentrated in the 3 industries that were ______?
- Most likely to suffer job losses
- More concentrated in frontline occupations with high infection risk
- In health care, more racialized workers are working more dangerous jobs/positions
What is a factor of the new economy?
Flexible production
Goods produced faster and cheaper –> consequence
–> people change brands more often & want latest product
How do companies cope with flexible production of the new economy?
Functional flexibility
- Workers work harder and longer
- how workers can work more efficiently
- Focus on outcomes (“lean production”)
Numerical flexibility
- Downsizing
- Part-time/contract
- Focus on cost-reduction
Flexible production and health:
Intensification of work
- Leisure sickness
- unable to rest b/c required to work
- work getting harder
- repetitive strain injuries (less visible and hard to connect to one job)
- eg. typing, using a mouse
Flexible production and health:
Non-standard work hours
- longer non-standard hours
- physiological & psychological health disturbances
- family conflict
Flexible production and health:
Precarious work
- poorer conditions
- low control of job
- low control of your life
- less socialization
Flexible production and health:
Job insecurity
- associations between illness and downsizing
- downsizing –> possible to lose job
- family dynamics and parenting
Flexible production and health:
Employment insecurity
- stress of no employment options
- can’t find a job specific to their degree
Flexible production and health:
Income insecurity
- income inadequacy (poverty) associated with ill health
eg. depression
Who are the most impacted populations with precarious works?
- Women
- Youth
- New Immigrants
- Racialized Minorities
- Persons with Disabilities
- Persons with Lower Education
- insecurity is not randomly distributed
- the influence of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, etc. on the SDOH
Who does “flexibility” mostly benefits
“flexibility” mostly benefits high-skilled/educated workers
What are the key dimensions of a “good” job
- Secure – Permanent With Benefits
- Addresses Workplace Injuries
- Control–Autonomy At Work
- Opportunities For Self-development (Paid) – Allows For Advancement (eg. conferences)
- Free Time – Vacation, Limit Work Taken Home, Etc.
- Work-Life Balance – Time Stress (e.g. Child And Elder Care)
- Attention To Social Aspects Of Job (Positive and Negative)
Key dimensions of work-related health
Job strain
Effort-reward imbalance
Organizational justice (eg. good boss, manager)
Work hours
Status inconsistency (education is much higher than what is required/needed)
Precarious work
Work and Health: What Should Be Done?
Research and Education
Research and Education
* More KT re: link between precarious employment and health
Work and Health: What Should Be Done?
Cultural Change
Cultural Change
* More employer social accountability
Work and Health: What Should Be Done?
Institutional Change
Institutional Change
* Free trade vs. fair trade (think about the impact on people)
Work and Health: What Should Be Done?
Power and Equity
Power and Equity
* Address that those already economically marginalized are disproportionately impacted by “flexible” workplace strategies
* How to ensure the ppl most vulnerable are still treated fairly
Work and Health: What Should Be Done?
Policy and Legislation
Policy and Legislation
* Increased minimum wage
* Incentives to hire permanent staff
* Access to training opportunities, EI, pension plans
* Occupational health for well-being vs reducing injury/illness
Policy Implications
* Support working life so demands and rewards are balanced
* Improve conditions in high-strain jobs
* Collective and organized action (unionization) as means to balance power between employers and employees
