The effect of gig economy work on workers' financial (in)security and the mediating role of social security systems

零工经济工作对劳动者财务（安全​​）保障的影响及社会保障制度的中介作用

• 批准号: ES/S016414/1
• 负责人: Lorenza Antonucci
• 金额: $ 30.93万
• 依托单位: University of Birmingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FS016414%2F1
• 关键词: effect; gig; economy; work; workers

Receive a request for a job through your phone, perform the task using your own facilities and get paid. This type of 'gig work' is regarded as the model of work for the future, but it is already experienced by many workers using the popular platforms of Uber and Deliveroo. Gig economy work blurs the division between employed and self-employed work, with gig economy workers being classified as self-employed and therefore being unable to access forms of state support available to employed individuals. This project explores the effects of gig economy workers' labour market conditions on their financial (in)security, and it investigates the role of social security provisions in Italy, Sweden and the UK. The proposed project originally situates the study of the gig economy within broader debates on the rise of precarity at work and the changing role of the welfare state in European societies. The project comes at a very timely moment given the current numerous national and European policy initiatives that discuss the gaps in state support for gig economy workers (e.g. from the European and the UK Parliaments), as well as the national protests of union workers occurring in the UK and across Europe.There are two broad narratives regarding the gig economy. The first sees the gig economy as an innovative and flexible model of work, given its capacity for allowing choice and autonomous work patterns and for giving workers the chance to top up their income. The second narrative underlines the negative effects of gig economy work on the financial lives of workers. Existing studies tend, however, to neglect the links between the work conditions and financial lives of gig economy workers. In order to investigate this issue, this project proposes to examine the real-life experiences of gig economy workers and understand both their motivations for engaging in gig economy work and the financial implications of gig economy work. Importantly, the study explores this issue by considering how the state and other forms of social protection influence workers' financial conditions.The project will consist of a qualitative research of three case studies (Italy, Sweden and the UK) where there has been a reported rise in gig economy activity. This comparison allows to find commonalities and differences in the financial experiences of gig economy workers across Europe, as well as to appreciate the intervening role of social security systems. This research will be methodologically cutting-edge due to its capacity of comparing European countries and its combination of different qualitative techniques, including policy analysis, face-to-face interviews and the use of an app to recruit participants and gathering gig workers' experiences.The research will produce a minimum of two articles and a book to advance the academic understanding of gig economy work. This research project also aims to deliver societal impact in two areas: firstly, by offering new evidence to inform the policy debate on the social security protection measures for gig economy workers; and, secondly, by offering empirical material on the gig economy to a public debate that has been very interested in the topic, but has limited evidence from social research. The research will be informed by an Advisory Board composed of policymakers, organisations, unions, journalists and other relevant stakeholders. A policy briefing and two events in London and Brussels will be organised for policy stakeholders. The research will also produce several outputs for the wider public (such as those engaged in precarious work and members of the public interested in this topical issue): two videos, blog posts, an accessible publication and a number of interventions in the media. Overall, this research will contribute to the public understanding of the implications of gig economy work and of the possibilities to update state policies to respond to the emerging features of work.

通过您的手机接收工作请求，使用您自己的设施执行任务并获得报酬。这种类型的“零工工作”被认为是未来的工作模式，但它已经被许多使用Uber和Poooo等流行平台的工人所体验。零工经济工作模糊了受雇工作和自营职业工作之间的界限，零工经济工作者被归类为自营职业者，因此无法获得受雇个人可获得的国家支助形式。该项目探讨零工经济工人的劳动力市场条件对其财务（不）安全的影响，并调查意大利，瑞典和英国的社会保障规定的作用。拟议的项目最初将零工经济的研究置于更广泛的辩论中，讨论工作不稳定性的上升和福利国家在欧洲社会中不断变化的作用。该项目来得非常及时，因为目前有许多国家和欧洲的政策倡议，讨论了国家对零工经济工人的支持差距（例如来自欧洲和英国议会），以及英国和整个欧洲发生的工会工人的全国性抗议活动。关于零工经济有两种广泛的叙述。第一种观点认为零工经济是一种创新和灵活的工作模式，因为它允许选择和自主工作模式，并为工人提供增加收入的机会。第二种叙述强调了零工经济工作对工人财务生活的负面影响。然而，现有的研究往往忽视了零工经济工人的工作条件和财务生活之间的联系。为了研究这一问题，本项目建议研究零工经济工作者的现实生活经验，并了解他们从事零工经济工作的动机和零工经济工作的财务影响。重要的是，该研究通过考虑国家和其他形式的社会保障如何影响工人的财务状况来探讨这一问题。该项目将包括对三个案例（意大利、瑞典和英国）的定性研究，据报道，这些案例中零工经济活动有所增加。通过这种比较，可以发现欧洲零工经济工作者在财务经验方面的共性和差异，并了解社会保障体系的干预作用。这项研究将在方法论上处于领先地位，因为它能够比较欧洲国家，并结合了不同的定性技术，包括政策分析，面对面访谈以及使用应用程序招募参与者和收集零工工作者的经验。这项研究将产生至少两篇文章和一本书，以促进对零工经济工作的学术理解。该研究项目还旨在在两个领域产生社会影响：首先，通过提供新的证据，为关于零工经济工人的社会保障保护措施的政策辩论提供信息;其次，通过为对该主题非常感兴趣的公众辩论提供关于零工经济的经验材料，但社会研究的证据有限。研究将由一个咨询委员会提供信息，该委员会由决策者、组织、工会、记者和其他相关利益攸关方组成。将在伦敦和布鲁塞尔为政策利益攸关方举办一次政策简报会和两次活动。这项研究还将为广大公众（如从事不稳定工作的人和对这一专题感兴趣的公众）提供若干产出：两个视频、博客文章、一份可查阅的出版物和在媒体上的一些发言。总的来说，这项研究将有助于公众了解零工经济工作的影响，以及更新国家政策以应对工作新特点的可能性。