The Longer-Term Impact of COVID-19 on Precarious Workers

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, economic stimulus programs helped some precarious workers - those engaged in temporary, contract-based work, and involuntary part-time work - to reduce debt, pursue additional education, or change careers. This project examines the longer-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and resulting short-lived financial supports, on gig-based and precarious workers as the coronavirus becomes endemic. The project examines how workers in precarious jobs, which are often public facing, perceive the potential ongoing risks of the virus and the "sweet spot" of timing regarding career changes or efforts to establish alternative income sources. Findings from the project inform decision-making at several levels, including workplace protections, worker classification, changes to unemployment insurance programs, and financial supports during a crisis. This project is the fourth stage of a mixed methods panel study utilizing interviews and surveys conducted with nearly 200 gig-based and precarious workers. Participants include gig workers who find work via online platforms, freelance workers in creative fields, and fast food and retail workers. While the earlier data collection phases coincided with the start of the pandemic, the second wave, and the end of unemployment assistance, this phase coincides with the coronavirus being deemed endemic and the end of the covid-19 emergency declaration. Findings from the project inform sociological theories regarding precarious work, job mobility, and the role of governmental support in an epidemiological natural disaster. Findings also inform theories regarding differential access to the U.S. employment social safety net and the impact of high levels of governmental financial support during a crisis. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.