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

通过手机接收工作请求，使用自己的设备完成任务并获得报酬。这种“零工”被认为是未来的工作模式，但许多使用Uber和Deliveroo等流行平台的员工已经体验过这种工作。零工经济模糊了受雇和自雇之间的界限，零工经济工作者被归类为自雇人士，因此无法获得为受雇个人提供的各种形式的国家支持。本项目探讨了零工经济工人的劳动力市场状况对其财务安全的影响，并调查了意大利、瑞典和英国社会保障条款的作用。拟议中的项目最初将零工经济的研究置于更广泛的辩论中，即工作不稳定性的上升和福利国家在欧洲社会中角色的变化。鉴于目前许多国家和欧洲的政策举措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，该项目来得非常及时。关于零工经济有两种大致的说法。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的工作模式，并为工人提供增加收入的机会。第二种说法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作者的工作条件和财务状况之间的联系。为了调查这个问题，这个项目建议检查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护如何影响工人的财务状况来探讨这个问题。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，这些国家的零工经济活动有所增加。通过这种比较，可以发现欧洲各地零工经济工作者财务经历的共同点和差异，并了解社会保障制度的干预作用。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、面对面访谈和使用应用程序招募参与者和收集零工工人的经验。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方面产生社会影响：首先，通过提供新的证据，为零工经济工人的社会保障措施的政策辩论提供信息；其次，通过向公众辩论提供关于零工经济的经验材料，公众辩论对这个话题非常感兴趣，但社会研究的证据有限。该研究将由一个由决策者、组织、工会、记者和其他相关利益相关者组成的咨询委员会提供信息。将在伦敦和布鲁塞尔为政策利益相关者举办政策简报会和两场活动。这项研究还将为更广泛的公众（例如从事不稳定工作的人和对这一专题问题感兴趣的公众）提供若干产出：两个视频、博客文章、一份无障碍出版物和一些媒体干预。总的来说，这项研究将有助于公众理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征的可能性。

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.