Research project Self-employment, precarious work and health inequalities in Sweden
This postdoc project investigated precarious employment as a social determinant of health. Precarious work has been described as "non-standard employment that is poorly paid, insecure, unprotected, and cannot support a household" and is highly interlinked with more traditional classifications of social class.
Previous research has found associations between precarious employment and health problems, but there is still a need to investigate this relationship in the Swedish context. Traditionally, the Swedish labour market has been characterised by a relatively low amount of precarious work, but recent and ongoing institutional and demographic developments suggest that this will change in the near future.
Project description
By using a large Swedish register data material on all native- and foreign-born residents in Sweden who were born between 1972 and 1997, the project will investigate how precarious work is associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality and morbidity in different population groups. Particular attention will be paid to different types of self-employment, as this form of employment often strips the worker of rights that regular employees are entitled to. In addition, the project will focus on the growing immigrant population in Sweden, which is over-represented in precarious work.
A methodological aim of the project is to develop a register-based measure of precarious employment. In combination with survey-based measures, such a tool will increase the opportunity to better understand the phenomenon of precarious work in Sweden.
Project members
Project managers
Karl Gauffin
Senior Lecturer/Researcher
