Trajectories of Unpaid Labour and the Probability of Employment Precarity and Labour Force Detachment Among Prime Working-Age Australian Women

Bibliographic Data

ID2064465
AuthorsJennifer Ervin (0000-0002-1887-6575, The University of Melbourne, corresponding author), Yamna Taouk (0000-0002-3017-6934, The University of Melbourne), Belinda Hewitt (0000-0002-2525-8708, The University of Melbourne), Tania King (0000-0002-1201-2485, The University of Melbourne)
Year2023
Volume169
Issue3
Pages1033-1056
Publication date2023-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Indicators Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0303-8300 • E-ISSN: 1573-0921
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s11205-023-03197-4
OpenAlexW4386161261
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited57

Worldwide, women are over-represented in precarious and insecure employment arrangements. Importantly, the high unpaid labour demands women experience over the life course compromise paid labour force participation for women. This study explores the way different trajectories of time spent in unpaid labour throughout women's prime working and child-rearing years (from baseline age of 25-35 yrs to 42-52 yrs) are associated with indicators of precarious employment and labour force detachment later in life. We applied group-based trajectory modelling to 17 waves (2002-2018) of data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey to identify trajectories in unpaid labour. We then examined associations between these estimated trajectories and employment outcomes in wave 19 (2019). Our study shows that chronic exposure to high amounts of unpaid labour over prime working-age years (compared to lower exposure levels) increases women's probability of precarious employment and labour force detachment later in prime working life. This provides evidence that ongoing inequity in the division of unpaid labour has considerable long-term implications for gender inequality in the paid labour force, and underscores the importance of urgently addressing how men and women share and prioritise time across both paid and unpaid labour domains

Demographic economics · Economics · Inequality · Labour economics · Labour supply · Life course approach · Public health · Quality of Life Research · Sociology · Unpaid work · Work (physics · Employment and Welfare Studies · Medicine · Psychology · Retirement, Disability, and Employment · Work-Family Balance Challenges

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