What are the health implications of the gig economy and irregular work hours?

Introduction

The gig economy, characterized by short-term, flexible, and often platform-mediated work, has become a significant part of the global labor market. This type of work arrangement, along with irregular work hours, has various implications for workers' health and well-being. This synthesis aims to present the key health implications associated with the gig economy and irregular work hours based on recent research findings.

Key Insights

Health Vulnerabilities in the Gig Economy:
- Gig workers face occupational, precarity, and platform-based vulnerabilities that collectively challenge their right to health. These include lack of health insurance, job instability, and worker misclassification .
- Algorithmic control in gig work offers flexibility but can lead to low pay, social isolation, overwork, sleep deprivation, and exhaustion .
Impact of Irregular Work Hours:
- Irregular work hours, especially without control over scheduling, increase sickness absence and distress in work-family balance.
- Shift and night work disrupt circadian rhythms, leading to sleep disturbances, increased fatigue, and higher risks of cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases .
- Non-standard work schedules are linked to poor sleep, substance use, worse dietary practices, obesity, and depression.
Long Working Hours:
- Extended and irregular working hours are associated with stress, fatigue, adverse health behaviors like smoking, and chronic conditions such as cardiovascular and musculoskeletal disorders.
- Long working hours polarize along class lines, with professionals working longer but regular hours, while less educated workers face more irregular hours.

Conclusion

The gig economy and irregular work hours pose significant health risks to workers. These include increased stress, sleep disturbances, social isolation, and higher incidences of chronic diseases. The flexibility offered by gig work and non-standard schedules often comes at the cost of job security, health insurance, and overall well-being. Addressing these issues requires a multifaceted approach, including better regulation, improved working conditions, and targeted health interventions.

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What are the health implications of the gig economy and irregular work hours?

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights

Conclusion

Sources and full results

The health of workers in the global gig economy

Gig workers face occupational, precariousness, and platform-based vulnerabilities, which challenge their right to health, with different experiences across regions and global borders.

Good Gig, Bad Gig: Autonomy and Algorithmic Control in the Global Gig Economy

Algorithmic control in remote gig economy platforms can offer high flexibility, autonomy, and task variety, but may also lead to low pay, social isolation, irregular hours, overwork, sleep deprivation, and exhaustion.

Working time: implications for sickness absence and the work–family balance

Irregular working hours with no control over time increase sickness absence and distress the work-family balance for both men and women, while regular hours with flexibility have no effect on sickness absence or work-family balance.

Shift work and health--a critical review of the literature on working hours.

Shift work can lead to increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, poorer work performance, and increased accidents, but proper scheduling and coping strategies can mitigate these effects.

Does non-standard work mean non-standard health? Exploring links between non-standard work schedules, health behavior, and well-being

Non-standard work schedules are associated with increased risks of non-optimal sleep, substance use, recreational screen time, worse dietary practices, obesity, and depression compared to standard schedule workers.

The impact of shift and night work on health.

Shift and night work negatively impacts workers' health and well-being, leading to disruptions in circadian rhythms, decreased work performance, and deteriorating health, with specific effects on women's health and family roles.

A Plea for the Need to Investigate the Health Effects of Gig-Economy

Gig-workers face job instability, poor job quality, and low salaries, making them a vulnerable population exposed to stress.

Long working hours, occupational health and the changing nature of work organization.

Long working hours are associated with stress, fatigue, and chronic health outcomes, highlighting the need for improved tracking methods and protective efforts.

Shift and Night Work

Shift and night work negatively impacts health and well-being, with potential long-term health risks including psychoneurotic, gastrointestinal, metabolic, cardiovascular disorders, and cancer.

Health Effects of Night and Irregular Shift Work: A Longitudinal Cohort Study of US Workers.

Night and irregular shift work significantly increase the odds of health limitations compared to regular daytime schedules, with more pronounced effects for irregularly scheduled work efforts.

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