Non-standard employment and unemployment during the COVID-19 crisis: economic and health findings from a six-country survey study

Gunn, VirginiaJulià, MireiaPadrosa Sayeras, Eva, 1993-Bodin, Theo2022-11-092022-11-092022Gunn V, Vives A, Zaupa A, Hernando-Rodriguez JC, Julià M, Kvart S, Lewchuk W, et al. Non-standard employment and unemployment during the COVID-19 crisis: economic and health findings from a six-country survey study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 May 11; 19(10): 5865. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191058651660-4601http://hdl.handle.net/10230/54774The COVID-19 crisis is a global event that has created and amplified social inequalities, including an already existing and steadily increasing problem of employment and income insecurity and erosion of workplace rights, affecting workers globally. The aim of this exploratory study was to review employment-related determinants of health and health protection during the pandemic, or more specifically, to examine several links between non-standard employment, unemployment, economic, health, and safety outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Canada, the United States, and Chile, based on an online survey conducted from November 2020 to June 2021. The study focused on both non-standard workers and unemployed workers and examined worker outcomes in the context of current type and duration of employment arrangements, as well as employment transitions triggered by the COVID-19 crisis. The results suggest that COVID-19-related changes in non-standard worker employment arrangements, or unemployment, are related to changes in work hours, income, and benefits, as well as the self-reported prevalence of suffering from severe to extreme anxiety or depression. The results also suggest a link between worker type, duration of employment arrangements, or unemployment, and the ability to cover regular expenses during the pandemic. Additionally, the findings indicate that the type and duration of employment arrangements are related to the provision of personal protective equipment or other COVID-19 protection measures. This study provides additional evidence that workers in non-standard employment and the unemployed have experienced numerous and complex adverse effects of the pandemic and require additional protection through tailored pandemic responses and recovery strategies.application/pdfengCopyright © 2022 by Gunn V, Vives A, Zaupa A, Hernando-Rodriguez JC, Julià M, Kvart S, Lewchuk W, et al. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Non-standard employment and unemployment during the COVID-19 crisis: economic and health findings from a six-country survey studyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19105865Atypical employmentHealth equityIncome and employment insecuritiesLack of workplace rightsMental healthOccupational health and safetyPandemic responses and recovery strategiesPovertySocial inequalitiesTransitions towards non-standard employment and unemploymentWorker health and well-beinginfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess