Precarious Workers: Typologies of Work Experiences and Health among Young Adults in the U.S.

• In Event: Organizations, Occupations, and Work Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 6: How Precarity Impacts Workers

Abstract

With the growth of gig work and precarious working conditions, contemporary young adults' work experiences warrant further research using updated data. Drawing on wave 7 of the Future of Families and Child Well-being Study (2020-2024) (N=2575), we employed Latent Class Analysis (LCA) to identify typologies of young adults’ work experiences. We subsequently estimated regression models to analyze the social determinants and health implications of work experience typologies. Six distinct classes of work experiences emerged: full-time high-quality, full-time multiple jobs, student workers, part-time underemployed, part-time multiple jobs, and mixed low-quality. Women were more likely than men to hold multiple jobs, be part-time workers, and be students. Higher education was associated with a lower likelihood of classification in the mixed low-quality group. Youth with a history of arrest were more likely to be in the groups with multiple jobs or the mixed low-quality group. Compared with the full-time high-quality group, those in the part-time underemployed and part-time multiple jobs groups reported lower health, mental health, and life satisfaction. While the mixed low-quality group reported lower health and life satisfaction, their mental health did not differ significantly from that of the full-time high-quality group.

Authors

• Lei Lei, Rutgers University-New Brunswick

• Jayla Gray-Thomas, Rutgers University