Youth, enterprise and precarity: or, what is, and what is wrong with, the ‘gig economy’?

Abstract

By taking an historical perspective, and by drawing on our own empirical work from the UK in the 1980s and more recently, we argue three main things. First, we need to understand the particular conditions of ‘the gig economy’ as a concentrated form of a more general de-standardisation of employment that has brought multiple forms of insecure work. Second, although there is clamour and excitement about ‘the gig economy’ in fact it shares strong parallels with earlier forms of insecure enterprise. Third, while not uniform nor as yet fully empirically demonstrated, young adults’ encounters with the ‘gig economy’ and other aspects of the contemporary labour market (such as the ‘low-pay, no-pay’ cycle, self-employment, ‘zero-hours contracts’) appear to be typified by a lack of choice and control, and experiences of disempowerment, low pay, degraded work conditions, alienation, anxiety and insecurity. This stands at odds with more celebratory proclamations about ‘the gig economy’.

‘Press-ganged’ Generation Rent: youth homelessness, precarity and poverty in east London

“…The youth worked in a variety of private-sector, non-unionised service jobs in retail (checkout, shelf stacking), care sector (nurseries, playgroups), cleaning, hairdressing, security, bar/club work, construction and administration. This work was characterised by poverty-level wages and precarity (Standing, 2011;Shildrick et al, 2012;MacDonald and Giazitzoglu, 2019). Earnings were typically between £5.00-8.00 per hour with most being paid at or slightly above the National Minimum Wage (NMW) level.…”

“…Hence, growing housing precarity -signified by insecurity and evictions -needs to be understood in relation to increased labour market precarity (Standing, 2011). Wage-labour contracts are less likely to take the standard full-time employment form, but are increasingly non-standard encompassing temporary, casual and part-time employment, and self-employment (Shildrick et al, 2012;MacDonald and Giazitzoglu, 2019). As with housing precarity, all forms of employment precarity bear down heaviest on youth; 'If you are young and in employment in the UK, you are far more likely to be on a "zero-hours contract" than another form of employment contract' (MacDonald and Giazitzoglu, 2019: 10).…”

Inequality Restructured: A Regional Comparison of the Occupational Position of Young People Before and After the Great Recession of 2008

“…Literature Review -The Landscape of the UK Youth Labour Market Furlong and Cartmel (2007: 2) argue that the youth labour market is an area that sits "at the crossroads of social reproduction". By understanding what is happening to employment opportunities and young people, we can be far more informed on how the wider economy may be changing (MacDonald and Giazitzoglu, 2019) and how different groups may be affected by such change. MacDonald argues:…”

“…Normalisation of de-standardised forms of employment within the youth labour market parallels their expansion within the wider economy (MacDonald and Giazitzoglu, 2019). This growth in precarity has been a major sociological trend (Standing, 2011;Antonucci, 2018).…”

“…The response of Government to the problems faced by young people has been to emphasise a thriving and successful UK youth labour market. Even developments that indicate the relative economic insecurity of young people, such as the rise of the 'gig economy', have been framed in positive and 'entrepreneurial' terms by Government Ministers (MacDonald and Giazitzoglu, 2019). This is despite evidence that shows the problematic nature of non-standard forms of employment in undermining terms and conditions, and reducing the individual agency of workers (Woods, 2017).…”