Low-wage Workers Research Articles

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various strata of society, but it particularly impacts women and children deeply. Poverty encompasses not only income deficiency for women but also the lack of social participation, leading to social exclusion. However, the question of whether poverty should be considered primarily as a women's issue or examined from a broader perspective is a subject of debate, as women can be disproportionately affected due to a gender-biased perspective.
 Recent research indicates that in contemporary societies, women are more adversely affected by poverty compared to men. Gender inequality and income disparities often restrict women's access to education, limit employment opportunities, push them into low-paying jobs, or hinder their workforce participation due to domestic responsibilities. Studies conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) highlight the prevalence of global gender inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab Peninsula, and many South Asian countries. These studies also reveal that gender inequality is more pronounced in countries with low to medium levels of human development. Consequently, regions like the Arab Peninsula and South Asia exhibit extremely low rates of female workforce participation. Moreover, these regions often witness a significant lack of female representation in their parliaments.
 Among the fundamental causes of women's poverty are deficiencies in education and negative societal attitudes towards women. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to elevate women's educational levels and encourage their participation in the labor force. Studies have shown a correlation between increasing women's education levels and economic growth. Consequently, governments should review employment policies and social security mechanisms to enhance women's access to employment opportunities. Social assistance policies should be implemented with a rights-based approach and should encompass women. Addressing the excessive burden of household chores, gender-based discrimination, and patriarchal attitudes limiting women's career choices is of paramount importance. Transforming societal norms and dismantling gender biases are necessary for this purpose. The combat against female poverty necessitates the active engagement of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the realm of social policy implementations, social assistance programs, governmental initiatives related to gender-responsive budgeting, and the practices of financial institutions concerning microcredit.

A CONCEPTUAL ARTISTRIES MULTI-SIDED BUSINESS MODEL: UPSKILLING AND NURTURING PEOPLE WITH A FINANCIAL IMBALANCE IN BANGLADESH AS FASHION-PRENEURS

To develop a conceptual Artistries business model including a digital platform and apps, in solving the key challenges, pains, gains & job-to-do of various customer segments (CS) for a clothing-related business. That will provide quality clothing products for the market while aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) including reducing poverty (SDG1), promoting decent employment and economic growth (SDG8), and responsible consumption and production (SDG12). The situation has become difficult because of the global pandemic, particularly financially in Bangladesh. The lockdown in Bangladesh has caused a huge deal of financial crisis for the economy which also had an impact on commercial shops. This paper identifies the struggles and difficulties faced by the various CS - people in poverty and the poor, jobless or laid-off workers, buyers, sellers, and suppliers of clothing products & services. The Business Model Canvas (BMC) and Value Proposition Canvas tools were used as part of the Design Thinking (DT) approach, adapted by this paper. This paper attempts to offer various CS with a wide range of fashionable clothing options that encourage and support the fashion ecosystem. Owning our own cultural and native products on the market while maintaining quality. People in poverty, particularly unemployed workers, can acquire pertinent skills, materials, and financial assistance for their own solvency, and re- & up-skilling themselves to become environmental fashion entrepreneurs through the business model. That is connecting the Artistries brand with people in poverty, buyers, sellers, and donors while sustaining business profitability.

The Discussion of the Influence of Public Art on the Cultural Status of Filipino Community in Hong Kong

The topic of public art and the role of public art in enhancing the cultural status of the Filipino community in Hong Kong is significant. This paper begins by introducing the Filipino community in Hong Kong, outlining its contributions to the citys economic and social structure as well as the difficulties it has had assimilating into Hong Kong society and dealing with issues like discrimination, cultural identity, poverty, and living conditions. Using specific examples, this article analyzes how public art may be a tool to encourage social and cultural development as well as how it might improve the cultural standing of the Filipino population in Hong Kong. The Filipino community in Hong Kong faces challenges related to cultural identity and social standing. They have made significant contributions to the citys development but have a tenuous social standing, often working in low-wage jobs with limited prospects for growth. And the community also faces difficult living conditions. The article as a whole emphasizes the value of public art in fostering cultural identity and fostering a more inclusive society. Additionally, it makes recommendations for how to change the current situation and the issues facing the Filipino community in Hong Kong, including defending their rights and interests and fostering their assimilation into Hong Kongs social culture.

A Study of Rule Extraction from Double Random Forest to Identify the Characteristics of Working Poor in Jakarta Province, Indonesia

Double Random Forest (DRF) outperforms Random Forest (RF) models, particularly when the RF model is underfitting. DRF generates more diverse and larger trees that significantly improve prediction accuracy. By applying association rule technique, the extracted rules from the DRF model provide an easily understandable interpretation of the characteristics of individuals identified as the working poor in Jakarta. The findings show that DRF performs good predictive performance in classifying poor workers in Jakarta, achieving an AUC value of 79.02%. The extracted rules from this model highlights interactions between education levels, working household member proportion, and job stability that significantly affect the classification of working poor. Specifically, worker with lower education levels, particularly high school or below, show a higher probability of being classified as poor workers. In addition, households with fewer employed members, especially those involving worker in self-employed/employee/freelancer roles, face a greater risk of falling into the poor category due to job instability and limited workforce participation. This implies that the interaction between the low proportion of working household members and low education, the interaction between unstable job position and low proportion of working household members, and the interaction between low education and unstable job position are the most important characteristics of the working poor in Jakarta.

Understanding the Macroeconomic Effects of Female Participation in the Labour Market

Throughout history, women have struggled to find their place in the labour market. Their participation in the labour market is usually characterised by worse working conditions; they tend to work in lower-paid jobs, under worse social conditions, and in the vast majority of cases their work in the household is not credited. Women make up half of the world’s population, and their non-participation in the labour force has negative consequences for economic growth. Therefore, this paper examines the impact of women’s participation in the labour market on living standard in the European Union. Data on women’s participation in entrepreneurship and politics were also analysed as part of this work. Panel data analysis was conducted for the period 2009–2022 for 27 members of the European Union, using fixed and random effects. The results show that long-term unemployment has a negative impact on GDP per capita. Moreover, a higher share of women in parliament and better education of women is confirmed to be crucial for GDP per capita growth. Failure to include women could have serious consequences for economic growth. The key to success is education and social change that enable women to play the same role as men in the labour market.

Transgenders Community in India Socioeconomic Health and Psychological Conditions

The transgender community in India has historically been marginalised and discriminated against socially, economically, and politically. Many people view trans people as abnormal or deviant, and they frequently experience abuse and violence on both a physical and emotional level, including sexual assault. Many incidents go unreported due to fear of retribution or a lack of legal recognition. Education is often the primary barrier for transgender individuals, with many dropping out of school due to bullying and a lack of support. Employment is often tricky, with many forced into low-paying jobs or engaging in sex work. Healthcare access is also challenging, with hormone therapy, gender-affirming surgeries, and mental health support often not easily accessible. This paper examined the demographic, socioeconomic, employment, health, psychological conditions, and transgender people’s rights protection acts in India.

Lockdowns and female labour force participation: the curious case of India

ABSTRACT In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, employment opportunities dried up owing to lockdowns and the economic fallout was felt by men and women alike. In this paper, we explore the impact of the pandemic-induced lockdowns on the female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) in India overall and in rural and urban areas taken separately. We use a panel dataset of 15 Indian states over the period 1991–2021 and estimate a dynamic GMM model to study the pandemic effect. Our results show that FLFPR that had historically shown a declining trend increased during the pandemic years despite lockdowns and job cuts. We find that there was an increase of 2.5% in FLFPR during the pandemic years. Our results hold even after controlling for other determinants of FLFPR such as per capita income, school education, fertility rate and male unemployment rate. Our results are consistent across rural and urban settings taken together and considered separately. Our findings suggest that economic distress drove women to take up low-paying jobs, resulting in the feminization of poverty.

Empowerment and access to opportunities in South Africa: can gender equality be achieved?

The purpose of this paper is to examine the unequal and inadequate access to opportunities by both men and women in South Africa, as well as the progress made in achieving gender equality and promoting women's empowerment, which are embedded in the Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals, respectively. The paper is virtuously theoretical and relies upon literature to present its arguments, soliciting information from published journals, reports, and previous studies. Access is primarily a gendered phenomenon worldwide, pertaining to the subsets of, inter alia, access to information, rights, land, money, education, skills, political participation, and opinion. Gender equity and equality are high on the developmental agenda of women in almost every country. South Africa, being part of international treaties and conventions on gender equity, is obliged to advance the empowerment of women and eliminate all forms of gender discrimination. The development of women, their access to essential resources, and their participation in important positions of decision-making are still challenges in most countries. It is commonly known that everywhere in the world, women face constraints that limit their capacity to contribute to production, well-being, decision-making, growth, and most importantly, empowerment, which in turn promotes independence. Women face discrimination in access to productive resources such as land; they face wage inequality in rural labor markets; and they are also more likely to work part-time, seasonal, and/or low-paying jobs when engaged in wage employment. Despite the Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998 and the inauguration of the Annual 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children by the South African government, which are aimed at fighting the perpetual inequalities and abuse of women and children, gender inequality, women's disempowerment, and unequal access to opportunities are still predominant in the country.

1.Q. Workshop: Work, health, and migration: understanding the health impacts of precarious and exploitative work

Abstract The ILO estimates that of the 169 international migrant workers globally, the largest share resides in Europe, where increasing numbers are at substantial risk of precarious, exploitative, and hazardous work conditions. While the right to health and decent work of migrants is recognised by European member states, COVID-19 has exposed how some low-wage migrant workers are compelled to accept exploitative and precarious employment terms and conditions, with implications for their health. The vulnerability of migrants to labour exploitation is influenced by both personal factors (such as age and gender) as well as situational factors (such as risk environments across the migration journey and national legislation). Hazardous, precarious, and exploitative work is an entrenched driver of poor health. Data show that low-wage migrant workers have higher injury and mortality rates compared to host workers and face barriers to occupational and mainstream health and vaccination systems. In this workshop, we will discuss the patterns of precarious work and labour exploitation in migrants residing in Europe, physical and mental health effects of labour exploitation, research and policy gaps, and models of good practice to ensure that the health and rights of migrant workers are protected. Workshop plan The workshop will start with 10-minute presentations by each of the 4 speakers (including a short Q&A after each talk). This will then move into a 20-minute audience discussion centred around exploring how to foster intersectoral collaboration across the work, migration, and health research communities to begin addressing some of the evidence and policy gaps in the European region. Key messages • Migrant workers have worse health outcomes than native workers, including higher rates of occupational injury and deaths. • Labour exploitation is an important social determinant of health among migrants which requires greater recognition in research and practice.

Digital exclusion and relative digital deprivation: Exploring factors and moderators of internet non-use in the UK

This paper investigates internet non-use in the UK. We apply Resource and Appropriation Theory (RAT), identifying main factors associated with internet non-use in the UK: (1) older age, (2) lower socio-economic classification, (3) disability, (4) less education/qualifications, and (5) lower housing tenure. We extend RAT by exploring magnifying effects of disadvantages, particularly, moderating effects of gender, housing tenure, urban/rural, North/South divide, and ethnicity. Internet non-users tend to be in lower-paid jobs, which impacts productivity even more during than before Covid, closing the loop of the RAT vicious circle. A thread runs through the results on the importance of attitudes and motivation. Accordingly, we recommend interventions based on Relative Digital Deprivation Theory. Once an individual understands that they suffer digital inequality, they are more likely to change attitudes and behavior to reduce inequality. If encouraged by family and friends, they may then view internet non-use as fixable and worth fixing, potentially becoming internet users.

Disability and the State Production of Precarity

Materialist theories of disability link disability and labor, hypothesizing that under neoliberalism, disability stigma contributes to labor market precarity. These claims have not been evaluated empirically and the mediating role of the state remains underspecified. Ethnographic fieldwork in a job training program for people with psychiatric disabilities reveals two contradictions in the welfare state treatment of disability. First, disability benefits are set at low levels, yet means-testing limits earnings, channeling people with disabilities into low-wage jobs. Second, contradictory imperatives attached to state funding incentivize placement in temporary jobs. These welfare state contradictions produce disabled workers as a precarious labor force.

Azerbaycan'da Kadın Hareketinin Gelişimi ve Yasal Belgelerde Toplumsal Cinsiyet Eşitliği ve Kadın Sorunlarının Yeri

As the first country in the East to grant women the right to vote and be elected, new political strategies were defined in Azerbaijan after gaining independence in 1991. The main problems related to gender equality, which is one of the issues included in the new political strategies, are women’s poor representation in public administration, early marriages, gender-based violence, women working in lower-paid jobs in the labor force, etc. During the presidency of both the father and son Aliyev, official international conventions on gender equality and women’s rights were signed and official laws were adopted. The issue of gender equality and women’s rights in official decisions of presidents, programs of state institutions and parties, and the effectiveness of these activities will be observed in this article. The official decrees, orders, and statements of the Presidents, statistics and projects of the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, gender statistics of the State Statistical Committee, the program of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party since 1995 and the data of the Milli Majlis will be analyzed as the objects of research addressed to the issues mentioned above.

Managing social intelligence from the perspective of optimising labour market pricing

The objective assessment of their labour value by future employers is a pressing concern for all students and graduates of higher education institutions. Young people frequently overestimate their salary expectations, leading to substandard service provision, or conversely, accept low-paying jobs resulting in emotional burnout due to lack of motivation. The purpose of this study was to identify how students with developed social intelligence assess their earnings prospects during their studies, in the first years after graduation and in adulthood. For this, a survey of students was conducted using the TROMSØ test and specially designed questions that helped to identify the respondents’ subjective assessment of the value of their working time. The study found a statistically significant relationship between social intelligence and labour market pricing. This dependence is particularly pronounced for wage expectations immediately after the graduation (p≤0.01**). However, no correlation was found between social intelligence or its components and ambitions for the level of pay during study. It was found that students are willing to look for part-time work for any financial motivation. As for the level of salary that would fully satisfy them in adulthood, the average salary is three times higher than the minimum wage in Ukraine and equals USD 580. By understanding the level of a person’s social intelligence, one can build an effective hiring system, gaining an additional tool for assessing possible salary ambitions. This will help to optimise the work of the HR department and understand the range of financial incentives needed required to stimulate a particular employee

School truancy and welfare receipt dynamics in early adulthood: A longitudinal study

School truancy is associated with many negative life outcomes, including violent, property, and drug offending, lower levels of education, and subsequently lower status and lower-paying jobs. These negative life outcomes are also related to future reliance on government welfare payments. This research sought to identify how high school truancy affects young people's welfare receipt dynamics in emerging adulthood. It uses longitudinal data from a nationally representative household panel survey (the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey) to estimate the effect of truancy on young people's likelihood of receiving government-paid cash transfers in emerging adulthood. We find that young people who are truant are over four times more likely to receive cash transfers than young people who are not truant. Findings also show that the extent of truancy does not impact the likelihood of welfare receipt, even when differentiating between infrequent and problem truants. We conclude with some comments on truancy's role in welfare dynamics.

Overwork Impacts on Low-Wage Workers: Insights from the Food Manufacturing Sector in Oregon and Washington

Unstable scheduling refers to such employer practices as last-minute schedule changes, lack of advance notice, requiring employees to be on-call, split shifts, “clopening,” and variable hours and shift times. Evidence has shown that such practices can lead to underwork, or involuntary part-time hours, particularly for service-sector workers. But another, less-explored dimension of unstable scheduling practices—and the focus of this analysis—is overwork. Overwork stems from practices that can limit the ability of workers to get adequate rest and can heighten the bodily and emotional hazards that workers experience. We identify the following forms of unstable scheduling practices that constitute overwork: • Long work days of over eight hours/day • Long work weeks of over 40 hours/week and/or over five days/week • Long stretches of over seven days without days off • Lack of sufficient breaks during shifts These multiple dimensions of unstable scheduling are sometimes layered together. For instance, workers can experience both optional and mandatory overtime, which can extend both their work day and/or their work week. When workers are assigned mandatory overtime, they face risk of penalty if they refuse to work these extended hours, including potential loss of employment. In addition, workers may experience combinations of overwork, underwork, or other unstable scheduling practices within one job, or as they move between multiple jobs to cobble together full-time, year-round employment, especially if working in an industry with high turnover and widespread seasonality. These combinations compound the strain that workers experience.

THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF COVID-19: EVIDENCE FROM A NEW PUBLIC DATABASE BUILT USING PRIVATE SECTOR DATA.

We build a publicly available database that tracks economic activity in the United States at a granular level in real time using anonymized data from private companies. We report weekly statistics on consumer spending, business revenues, job postings, and employment rates disaggregated by county, sector, and income group. Using the publicly available data, we show how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the economy by analyzing heterogeneity in its effects across subgroups. High-income individuals reduced spending sharply in March 2020, particularly in sectors that require in-person interaction. This reduction in spending greatly reduced the revenues of small businesses in affluent, dense areas. Those businesses laid off many of their employees, leading to widespread job losses, especially among low-wage workers in such areas. High-wage workers experienced a V-shaped recession that lasted a few weeks, whereas low-wage workers experienced much larger, more persistent job losses. Even though consumer spending and job postings had recovered fully by December 2021, employment rates in low-wage jobs remained depressed in areas that were initially hard hit, indicating that the temporary fall in labor demand led to a persistent reduction in labor supply. Building on this diagnostic analysis, we evaluate the effects of fiscal stimulus policies designed to stem the downward spiral in economic activity. Cash stimulus payments led to sharp increases in spending early in the pandemic, but much smaller responses later in the pandemic, especially for high-income households. Real-time estimates of marginal propensities to consume provided better forecasts of the impacts of subsequent rounds of stimulus payments than historical estimates. Overall, our findings suggest that fiscal policies can stem secondary declines in consumer spending and job losses, but cannot restore full employment when the initial shock to consumer spending arises from health concerns. More broadly, our analysis demonstrates how public statistics constructed from private sector data can support many research and real-time policy analyses, providing a new tool for empirical macroeconomics.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SOCIAL ASSISTANCE IN THE DISTRICT. MEDAN DENAI, MEDAN CITY

Community development, which seeks to increase participation and a sense of participation and belonging together in the program to be implemented, must also contain elements of community empowerment. Empowerment refers to the ability of people, especially vulnerable or weak groups, to have access to productive sources that enable them to increase their income and obtain the goods and services they need and then participate in the development process and decisions that affect their environment. or themselves. In reality, this process often does not appear automatically, but rather grows and develops based on the interaction of local communities with external parties or social workers who work based on charitable encouragement or a professional perspective. These social workers act as social assistants. Who is present as an agent of change who is involved in helping solve the problems they face. Social assistance can be interpreted as a dynamic interaction between poor groups and social workers to jointly face various or various challenges. Community development is also interpreted as a strategy of choice in the context of alternative development, while the concept of alternative development in development discourse is then a reaction to the weaknesses of the development model, also overcoming the problem of poverty, preserving the environment and solving strange social problems that oppress society.

A Review on the Working Conditions and Occupational Health and Safety Issues of International Students in Turkey

The increasing presence of international students in higher education in Turkey has brought their working conditions and issues related to occupational health and safety into sharper focus. Türkiye’s educational and cultural richness attracts an international student body. Some of these students work during their education to meet their economic needs. For the methodology of the research, document analysis from qualitative research methods was employed. Primary data sources for the research include legislation related to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) intersecting with international students in higher education in Turkey, academic articles, books, and reports. The obtained data were classified according to the aim of the research and discussed under respective headings. According to the results of the study; international students face challenges due to language barriers, cultural adaptation issues, and lack of knowledge about their legal rights. These challenges lead them to low-wage jobs and deprive them of occupational health and safety standards. It is recommended for Turkey to provide occupational health and safety training for international students and organize informative seminars about legal rights and work permits. Participation of employers in awareness programs targeting this group of students will be a significant step in solving these problems.

Consequences of a minimum wage increase in a migrant-sending country

A mandated minimum wage supports low-wage workers at the expense of domestic employment and overall welfare in a closed economy. This, however, does not occur in an economy with open labor markets like the Philippines. Our general equilibrium simulations demonstrate that a minimum wage increase would be welfare-improving thanks to remittances earned by, especially, unskilled workers who lose jobs and migrate abroad. Migration would cause currency appreciation and less domestic labor supply which make exports and domestic production weaker, especially in manufacturing, like the Dutch disease. Among four household groups, welfare gains would accrue largely to both the richest and poorest household groups; middle-income groups would gain smaller. Our neutral inequality finding does not imply equal gains by all household groups but is brought by the poorest household group being able to keep up with the second and third-richest household groups, while trailing behind the richest household group.

The impact of broadband Internet on public media: Evidence from China

This paper investigates the impact of broadband Internet on the provision of public media in a large developing country. We use new panel data on public broadcasting at the province level from 2005 to 2017 and a control function approach exploiting variation in China's centralized roll-out of digital infrastructure. We find that rising broadband penetration has substantial negative impacts on the quantity of public media provision—including news, public-service programs, and entertainment—in China's local radio and television. Except for news, these effects are driven by changes in both the extensive margin (i.e., fewer channels) and the intensive margin (i.e., less broadcasting per channel). While industry ad revenues decrease significantly, ad intensity and volume per channel increase with higher broadband penetration rates. Lastly, we find that broadband Internet attracts young, educated, and urban viewers away from television but has no effect on the elderly, the less educated, and those with low-paying jobs.