Bad job, bad health? A longitudinal analysis of the interaction between precariousness, gender and self-perceived health in Germany.

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 health and whether 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 analyze the effect of precariousness on men’s and women’s self-perceived health by implementing ordered probit correlated random-effects models and controlling for both observed and unobserved heterogeneity. The findings suggest that employment precariousness could be detrimental for self-perceived health for both men and women, with men being more penalized. The social consequences of employment de-standardization need to be investigated taking into account the gender norms that characterize specific cultural and institutional contexts. Further research on this topic is needed.