Perceived Job Insecurity and Anxiety. A Multilevel Analysis on Male and Female Workers in European Countries.

Anna Bracci,Egidio Riva

doi:10.3389/fsoc.2020.573549

Abstract

A growing body of evidence has been produced on the adverse effects of job insecurity on health and well-being. Current research in the field conveys a few concerns, some of which are related to gender and cross-national differences in the experience of job insecurity. In order to fill these gaps this study draws on three waves (2005, 2010, 2015) of the European Working Conditions Survey and investigates, using mixed-effects logistic regression: (i) the relationship between anxiety and perceived job insecurity; and whether such relationship: (ii) is different for men and women; (iii) and varies across European countries. Results indicate that male and female workers perceiving the risk of involuntary job loss have similar odds of reporting anxiety. Furthermore, the variance in slopes across countries, relative to the general trend, is significant but modest, too, thus suggesting that the relationship under investigation is fairly similar across European countries. Implications of the findings for future research and practice are discussed.

Highlights

Over the last few years a combination of factors, such as globalization, the widespread digitalization, labor market deregulation and the prevalence of employment in service industries over manufacturing—has made new forms of work organization more pervasive (Greenan et al, 2017)
About a quarter (24.7%) of female respondents who feel their job is insecure suffer from anxiety, whereas only 16.4% of those who do not perceive the risk of involuntary job loss are anxious
As for working men, about a fifth (18.8%) of those perceiving their job as insecure report anxiety; on the contrary, 12.4% of those who have secure jobs struggle with anxiety

Summary

Introduction

Over the last few years a combination of factors, such as globalization, the widespread digitalization, labor market deregulation and the prevalence of employment in service industries over manufacturing—has made new forms of work organization more pervasive (Greenan et al, 2017). The overall number of workers experiencing job insecurity, which is generally defined as the perceived threat of job loss and job discontinuity (De Witte et al, 2016), has widely enlarged. A growing body of literature has proved a negative association between perceived job insecurity, on the one hand, and health or subjective well-being, effective functioning at work, and occupational outcomes, on the other hand (for meta-analyses and literature reviews, see e.g., Sverke et al, 2002; Cheng and Chan, 2008; Berkman et al, 2014; De Witte et al, 2016). The issue of job insecurity has been relatively high on the policy-making agenda and it has gained increasing attention in a wide range of disciplines. Current research in the field conveys a few concerns, some of which are related to gender and cross-national differences in the experience of job insecurity (László et al, 2010)

Methods

Results

Conclusion