Changes in Precarious Employment and Health in the United States Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the association between changes in employment precarity and changes in health amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted an online survey of 623 U.S. adults at-risk for cardiovascular disease, which queried respondents on employment, food insecurity, and blood pressure measurements in the Fall of 2020 and retrospectively, in February 2020. Respondents were also queried on perceived stress in the Fall of 2020. We created a multidimensional precarious employment score (PES) using 13 survey indicators, that operationalized the following dimensions of employment precarity (PES range: 0–13): material rewards, working time arrangements, employment stability, workers’ rights, collective organization, interpersonal relations, and training opportunities. Using adjusted linear regression models, we investigated the association between a change in the PES and 1) change in systolic blood pressure, 2) change in pulse pressure, 3) change in food insecurity, and 4) perceived stress. Models controlled for race/ethnicity, age, gender, and education. Results indicated that employment precarity was 13 % higher between February and Fall 2020, particularly among women and non-Hispanic Black respondents. A change in the PES was associated with a change in food insecurity (β: 0.02; 95 % CI:0.01, 0.03) and higher perceived stress (β: 0.39; 95 % CI:0.25, 0.53). The PES was not associated with a change in systolic blood pressure (β: −0.22; 95 % CI:-0.76, 0.32) nor in pulse pressure (β: −0.33; 95 % CI: −0.73, 0.07). Policy approaches to mitigate the growth in employment precarity, and in turn food insecurity and stress, warrant consideration to prevent widening of health inequities.