Precarious Employment in the Canadian Labour Market: A Statistical Portrait

Authors

  • Cynthia J Cranford
  • Leah F Vosko
  • Nancy Zukewich

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/1705-1436.164

Abstract

'Precarious employment' is a better concept for understanding labour market insecurity than the dominant concept in Canada, 'non-standard work.' We examine dimensions of precariousness between and within mutually exclusive forms of employment. The growth of 'non-standard work' is fuelled by increases in forms of employment that lack regulatory protection, such as own- account self-employment. Wage work falls along a continuum of precariousness measured as regulatory protection, control and income. Finally, employment in precarious forms is shaped by social location. White men are concentrated in the least precarious forms of employment, while white women, women of colour and youth are concentrated in the more precarious forms.

References

Broad, D. 2000. Hollow Work, Hollow Society?: Globalization and the Casual Labour Problem in Canada. Halifax: Fernwood.

Carre, F., Ferber, M., G., Lonnie and S. Herzenberg. 2000. Non-Standard Work Arrangements. Wisconsin: Industrial Relations Research Association.

Cranford, Cynthia, Vosko, Leah F. and Nancy Zukewich 2003. “The Gender of Precarious Employment in Canada.” Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations, Fall. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/007495ar

Das Gupta, T. 1996. Racism and Paid Work. Toronto: Garamond Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442602892

Das Gupta, Tania and Franca Iacovetta 2000. “Introduction: Whose Canada Is It?: Immigrant Women, Women of Colour and Feminist Critiques of ‘Multiculturalism.’” Atlantis 242, 1-4.

Economic Council of Canada 1990. Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: Employment in the Service Economy. Ottawa: Ministry of Supply and Services.

Forrest, Anne 1995. Securing the Male Breadwinner: A Feminist Interpretation of PC 1003. In Cy Gonick, Paul Phillips and Jesse Vorst (eds), Labour Gains, Labour Pains: 50 Years of PC 1003. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing pp.139-162.

Fudge, Judy 1993. The Gendered Dimension of Labour Law: Why Women Need Inclusive Unionism and Broader-Based Bargaining. In Linda Briskin and Patricia McDermott (eds), Women Challenging Unions: Feminism, Democracy, and Militancy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp.139-162. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442683563-014

Fudge, J. 1997. Precarious Work and Families. Working Paper, Toronto: Centre for Research on Work and Society, York University.

Fudge, J., E. Tucker and L. F. Vosko 2002.The Legal Concept of Employment: Marginalizing Workers. Ottawa: The Law Commission of Canada

Fudge, J. and L. F. Vosko 2001a. Gender, Segmentation and the Standard Employment Relationship in Canadian Labour Law and Policy. Economic and Industrial Democracy 22: 2, 271-310. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X01222005

Fudge, J. and L. F. Vosko 2001b. By Whose Standards? Re-Regulating the Canadian Labour Market. Economic and Industrial Democracy 22:3, 327-356. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X01223002

Galarneau, D. 1994. Working 9 to 5. Perspectives on Labour and Income, Summer, 40-44.

Grenon, L. and B. Chun 1997. Non-permanent Paid Work. Perspectives on Labour and Income, Autumn, 21-31.

Hughes, K. 1999. Gender and Self-employment in Canada: Assessing Trends and Policy Implications, CPRN Study No. W/04 Changing Employment Relationships Series. Ottawa: Canadian Policy Research Networks.

James, Angela, David Grant and Cynthia Cranford 2000. Moving Up but How Far?: African American Women and Economic Restructuring in Los Angeles, 1970-1990. Sociological Perspectives 43:3, 399-420. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1389535

Krahn, H. 1991. Nonstandard Work Arrangements. Perspectives on Labour and Income, Winter, 35.

Krahn, H. 1995. Non-standard Work on the Rise. Perspectives on Labour and Income, Winter, 35-42.

Lowe, G., G. Schellenberg and K. Davidman 1999. Rethinking Employment Relationships, CPRN Discussion Paper No. W/05 Changing Employment Relationships Series. Ottawa: Canadian Policy Research Networks.

Luxton, M. and J. Corman 2001. Getting By in Hard Times: Gendered Labour at Home and on the Job. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Mensah, Joseph. 2002. Black Canadians: History, Experiences, Social Conditions. Halifax: Fernwood.

Miles, R. 1987. Capitalism and Unfree Labour: Anomaly or Necessity? New York: Tavistock.

O'Grady, J. 1991. Beyond the Wagner Act, What Then? In D. Drache (ed.), Getting on Track. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's Press, pp.153-169.

Rodgers, G. 1989. Precarious Work in Western Europe. In G. Rodgers and J. Rodgers (eds), Precarious Jobs in Labour Market Regulation: The Growth of Atypical Employment in Western Europe. Belgium: International Institute for Labour Studies, pp.1-16.

Schellenberg, G. and C. Clarke 1996. Temporary Employment in Canada: Profiles, Patterns and Policy Considerations. Ottawa: CCSD.

Siroonian, J. 1993. Work Arrangements, Analytic Report No. 6. Catalogue 71-535. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

Sunter, D. 1993. Working Shift. Perspectives on Labour and Income, Spring, 16-23.

Ursel, Jane. 1992. Private Lives, Public Policy: 100 Years of State Intervention in the Family. Toronto: Women’s Press.

Vosko, Leah F., Nancy Zukewich and Cynthia Cranford 2003. Non-standard Work and Labour Market Precariousness. Perspectives on Labour and Income. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. September.

Vosko, Leah F. 2002. Rethinking Feminization: Gendered Precariousness in the Canadian Labour Market and the Crisis in Social Reproduction. A monograph prepared for the Annual Robarts’ Lecture, Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies.

Vosko, Leah F. 2003. Gender Differentiation and the Standard/Non-Standard Employment Distinction in Canada, 1945 to the Present. In Juteau, Danielle (ed.), Social Differentiation: Patterns and Processes. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp.25-80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442680029-005

Vosko, Leah F. 2000. Temporary Work: The Gendered Rise of a Precarious Employment Relationship. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442680432

Vosko, Leah F. 1997. “Legitimizing the Triangular Employment Relationship: Emerging International Labour Standards from a Comparative Perspective. Comparative Labour Law and Policy Journal. 19 (Fall): 43-77.

White, J. 1993. Sisters and Solidarity: Women and Unions in Canada. Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing.

Zavella, Patricia. 1997. Reflections on Diversity among Chicanas. In Mary Romero, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo and Vilma Ortiz (eds), Challenging Fronteras: Structuring Latina and Latino Lives in the U.S. Routledge: New York and London, pp.187-194.

Downloads

Published

— Updated on 2003-09-01

Versions

  • 2003-09-01 (2)
  • (1)

How to Cite

Cranford, C. J., Vosko, L. F., & Zukewich, N. (2003). Precarious Employment in the Canadian Labour Market: A Statistical Portrait. Just Labour, 3. https://doi.org/10.25071/1705-1436.164

Issue

Section

Contents