Giulia Tattarini (WBZ & University of Potsdam) (webinar)

Abstract: Over the last few decades in all European countries more and more people have been experiencing a condition of precariousness during their working lives. Whether employment precariousness could affect working people’s quality of life and weather there exists a gender differential in the relationship are crucial questions that have not been fully explored yet. Then, the aim of this paper is twofold: Firstly, it investigates the relationship between precariousness and general health in Germany; secondly, it explores whether and in which direction the health consequences of precariousness vary by gender. Data from the German Socio-economic Panel (SOEP, waves 2003 2007 2011 2015) are used for the analysis. By using multiple correspondence analysis, I develop a new multi-dimensional and continuous measure of precariousness, which summarizes seven different dimensions of insecurity. Further, I analyse the effect of precariousness on men’s and women’s self-perceived health by implementing ordered logit random-effects models and controlling for both observed and unobserved heterogeneity. The findings seem to suggest that employment precariousness may be detrimental for self-perceived health, and that men are particularly at risk with respect to women. The social consequences of employment de-standardization need to be investigated taking into account the gender relationships and gender norms that characterize specific cultural and institutional contexts. Further research on this topic is needed.

If you are interested to attend the webinar please contact: seminars@carloalberto.org