The differing impact of alternative work arrangements on quality of life for men and women

There has been much discussion recently about the rise of “just in time” employment and alternative work arrangements.  These nonstandard employment relations are beneficial to some firms as they are not required to pay the costs of maintaining a work force when it is not needed.  The consequences for workers may vary with some preferring more traditional jobs and the associated benefits, while for others the availability of these jobs makes it possible for them to work given other constraints on their time.  Given the traditional division of labor in the household one could hypothesize that the effect would be different for men and women.  In particular it might be different for those who are married vs. single or those with children in the home vs. no children.  This study will utilize two recent waves of the General Social Survey (GSS), 2014 and 2010, to examine by gender the characteristics of those who engage in nonstandard employment and study the differing impact of nonstandard employment relations (independent contractors, on-call workers, working for contractor, employed by temp agency, self-employed) on quality of life.  Part of this study will be descriptive and will utilize even earlier waves of the GSS to capture the changing characteristics and numbers of those engaged in alternative work arrangements.  The study will then concentrate on the more recent waves to investigate the probability of being engaged in these types of work arrangements as opposed to being in a standard work arrangement.  The study will also look at various quality of life measures and how these are affected by work arrangement.  The GSS includes a measure of job satisfaction, and the 2010 and 2014 waves include a quality of life module which includes many questions such as the impact of one’s job on family life, knowing what is expected of one on the job, having a job that allows one to use their skills and abilities, being treated with respect, how proud they are of working with their employer, how much freedom they have to decide their own work load among others.  Regression analysis, including OLS, probit and ordered probit analysis will be used.  It is expected that there has been an increase in alternative work arrangements over time and that the probability of engaging in this type of work and its impact on the various outcome measures will differ by gender.