Contingent work and ill-health: Conceptualizing the links

Part-time, casual, contract, temporary and self-employment are some of the more commonly known forms of 'contingent work'. Recent employment surveys indicate an increase in these forms of work while permanent forms of employment have ostensibly declined. Contingent work has become a focus of concern for those interested in the effects of changing labor market patterns on health. There are however two significant impediments to understanding the contingent work and health relationship. First, its current conceptual apparatus is diffuse and inconsistent. Definitions of contingent work and the assumptions that underlie its numerous descriptors differ within and across disciplines. Second, there is little conceptual clarity around what aspects of contingent work might be related to health. In this article, we distil and synthesize literature from a range of disciplines and develop a framework for conceptualizing contingent work and its relationship to health. We suggest that low reciprocity, uncertainty, discontinuity and marginality are core concepts that underlie many conceptualizations of contingent work. Drawing on related theoretical insights and empirical findings from the literature, we identify possible structural, social and psychological pathways between these four features of contingent work and ill health. Social Theory & Health (2010) 8, 326-349. doi: 10.1057/sth.2010.3