The lived experiences of the welfare state of platform workers
The barriers to accessing social protection in Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6430197 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lorenza Antonucci (0000-0002-1145-2972, School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham Birmingham UK, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2024-10-27 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Social Welfare (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1369-6866 • E-ISSN: 1468-2397 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ijsw.12708 |
| OpenAlex | W4403800939 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 20 |
The recent literature on platform work and the welfare state has stressed that, despite being affected by high‐income insecurity, platform workers cannot easily access social protection. However, it is unclear why platform workers encounter such barriers. This article offers an inductive and empirically based theoretical framework to investigate the obstacles faced by platform workers. It shows that the barriers experienced by platform workers depend on the eligibility criteria, the assessment criteria and the trade‐off between taxation and social protection. The article substantiates these claims by offering both a policy analysis of formal arrangements and a qualitative analysis of the lived experiences of welfare of 101 platform workers in Italy, Sweden and the UK during COVID‐19. The research found that, while many platform workers attempted to access social protection during COVID‐19, platform workers' access to social protection was affected by their positionality as outsiders, which clashes with the eligibility criteria (in Sweden and Italy); by the irregular nature of platform work, which contrasts with the rigidity of the assessment criteria (in the UK, Italy and Sweden); and by the implicit trade‐off experienced by platform workers between minimising taxation and accessing to social protection (in the UK and Italy
Business · Economic growth · Economics · Kingdom · Political science · Politics · Social protection · Social Welfare · Sociology · State (computer science · Welfare · Welfare state · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Employment and Welfare Studies · Law · Medicine · Taxation and Compliance Studies · Social Work · Gerontology
The Rise of the 'Just-in-Time Workforce'
Humans as a Service
Universal Credit, ubiquitous conditionality and its implications for social citizenship
Vulnerability of the ‘Entrepreneurial Self’
Digitalisation and social security in the EU. The case of platform work
Digital industrial accidents
Gender and precarity in platform work
The Ethical Deficit of the United Kingdom's Proposed Universal Credit
Which social security regime for platform workers in Italy
Work, social protection and the middle classes
Social protection systems and the future of work
Platform work and access to social protection across major European countries
Exploring what the Notion of 'Lived Experience' Offers for Social Policy Analysis
| Citations per year | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |