The Double Bind of Precarious Work: Creating Need and Undermining Support

For most adults in the U.S., participation in the labor force is a normative expectation and a pre-requisite for social acceptance and inclusion. Yet, the conditions of low-wage work can breed social isolation by interfering with supportive social ties at and outside of work. Drawing on survey data from The Shift Project, we examine the complex interplay between precarious working conditions and supportive social ties and illuminate a vicious cycle faced by low-wage workers. Precarious work schedule conditions are associated with reduced perceptions of support from social ties and act as a mechanism through which precarious working conditions take a toll on worker well-being. Further, those with precarious work schedules are less likely to benefit from the buffering effect of social support that attenuates the negative consequences of unstable and unpredictable schedules on well-being. Our findings demonstrate negative externalities of precarious working conditions for social support and reveal the double bind of precarious work: schedule instability undermines workers' social support while simultaneously heightening the need for it.