Unpaid Labour and Mental Health

Project title:

Unpaid Labour and Mental Health

[T]he link between unpaid labour (in paid employment and self-employment) and mental health has not been explored yet.

Researcher:

Project proposal:

Unpaid labour is commonly associated with domestic and reproductive labour that occurs inside households and is performed predominantly by women. Here, a novel perspective on unpaid labour will be explored, as it will be analysed in the context of employment and self-employment, where certain aspects of work are paid for, and other aspects systematically remain unremunerated. This is especially pertinent in case of creative, care and gig jobs, where people report working for free for the sake of networks, on-the-job training, customers’ reviews, employability, flexibility, and their professional identity. Until now, the link between unpaid labour (in employment and self-employment) and mental health remains unexplored, and this is the research gap this project aims to address. The following questions will be asked here:

(1) what is the impact of unpaid labour on mental health of women and men in employment and self-employment,

(2) what are the mechanisms by which unpaid labour affects mental health, and

(3) what are the ways of challenging unpaid labour as a structural feature of labour market, in order to bring about positive mental health outcomes through reduction of unpaid labour.

Photo by Per Lööv on Unsplash

Themes: