The Social Foundations of Precarious Work: The Role of Unpaid Labour in the Family
Valeria Pulignano, Glenn Morgan
Abstract
This chapter argues for a perspective on the study of precarious work that draws on earlier critical labour studies and feminist analyses of the role of domestic labour in the reproduction of capitalism. In particular, we point to the challenges that the fading away of the standard employment contract poses to workers and their families, and assess the implications for the reproduction of labour power. We argue that the rise of precarious work, with highly flexible hours and reward systems, shifts risks and functions that were previously organized through the employment contract (supported by the welfare state) back onto the individual, and through this onto the household and the family. This shift fosters a reconfiguration of the interdependencies between productive paid work (undertaken within the public sphere) and unpaid work (within the private household sphere), and a shift of risks from the employer to the state and, further, onto individuals and families. Precarity therefore, we argue, is not just a feature of work but an underlying aspect of everyday life in the private as well as the public sphere for those trapped in this situation.