Which precarious working conditions are more likely to be experienced by women and men in the labour market?

Various studies have built composite indexes of labour precarity and concluded that women are more likely to have the most precarious and vulnerable jobs. My research takes a different approach by examining the likelihood that men and women experience different types of precarious working conditions. As a result, this is the first paper documenting a disaggregated analysis that highlights the types of precarious working conditiongs that men and women are more likely to face when they participate in the labour market. 

Using probit regressions based on data from Mexico's labour force surveys, I found an interesting pattern: Working women are more likely to experience income-related precarity, such as being unpaid workers, receiving daily wages, and having labour incomes below the minimum wage. In contrast, working men are more likely to experience workload-related precarity, including working more than 48 hours per week, holding multiple jobs, working at night, and reporting feelings of underemployment.

My research suggests that these patterns may be reflecting internalised gender norms around breadwinning and housekeeping roles.

Working men may be more likely to accept workload precarity and report feelings of underemployment, as they consider that working longer shifts is part of assuming the breadwinner role in the household. Meanwhile, women may be more likely to accept income precarity when they work because they are expected to assume the historical burden of being in charge of the domestic responsibilities, while they also need to contribute to the household’s financial situation. This dual burden might make women more likely to take informal, flexible jobs where income precarity is more prevalent, or even “help” the family business as unpaid workers, simply to avoid the need to hire external labour.