Global precarious employment and health inequalities: working conditions, social class, or precariat?
Cadernos de Saúde PúblicaPublished 1 January 2016Open access
Carles Muntaner
Citations32
SJR quartileQ2
SJR score0.73
SNIP0.95
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Abstract
Changes in employment conditions since the 1980s have been referred to as precarious employment, and terms like flexible, atypical, temporary, part-time, contract, self-employed, irregular, or non-standard employment have also been used. In this essay I review some of the current critiques to the precarious employment construct and advance some potential solutions for its use in epidemiology and public health.
Keywords
Social SciencesHealth Professions
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