TY - JOUR
T1 - Deliberately casual? Workers' agency, health, and nonstandard employment relations in Australia
AU - Keuskamp, Dominic
AU - Mackenzie, Catherine
AU - Ziersch, Anna
AU - Baum, Frances
PY - 2013/6
Y1 - 2013/6
N2 - Objective: We explored Australian workers' experiences of nonstandard employment, how it related to health and well-being, and the role that Bourdieu's forms of capital (cultural, economic, and social resources) played in underpinning workers' agency. Methods: Qualitative data from semistructured interviews with 32 causal workers were analyzed on the basis of framework analysis. Results: Most participants were "deliberate casuals" who had chosen casual over permanent employment, with half of that group naming improved health and well-being as motivation. Those with greater access to capital felt more able to exercise choice, whereas those with fewer capital resources felt constrained to be casual. Gendered structures and labor market dynamics were also significant in shaping agency. Conclusions: Access to capital and a buoyant labor market underpinned workers' agency in Australia, enabling some to gain health and well-being benefits from nonstandard employment.
AB - Objective: We explored Australian workers' experiences of nonstandard employment, how it related to health and well-being, and the role that Bourdieu's forms of capital (cultural, economic, and social resources) played in underpinning workers' agency. Methods: Qualitative data from semistructured interviews with 32 causal workers were analyzed on the basis of framework analysis. Results: Most participants were "deliberate casuals" who had chosen casual over permanent employment, with half of that group naming improved health and well-being as motivation. Those with greater access to capital felt more able to exercise choice, whereas those with fewer capital resources felt constrained to be casual. Gendered structures and labor market dynamics were also significant in shaping agency. Conclusions: Access to capital and a buoyant labor market underpinned workers' agency in Australia, enabling some to gain health and well-being benefits from nonstandard employment.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84879164284&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/JOM.0b013e31829176eb
DO - 10.1097/JOM.0b013e31829176eb
M3 - Article
SN - 1076-2752
VL - 55
SP - 620
EP - 627
JO - Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
JF - Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
IS - 6
ER -