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‘Working to Live, Not Living to Work’: Low-Paid Multiple Employment and Work–Life Articulation

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Smith

    (University of Bradford, UK)

  • Jo McBride

    (Durham University, UK)

Abstract

This article critically examines how low-paid workers, who need to work in more than one legitimate job to make ends meet, attempt to reconcile work and life. The concept of work–life articulation is utilised to investigate the experiences, strategies and practicalities of combining multiple employment with domestic and care duties. Based on detailed qualitative research, the findings reveal workers with two, three, four, five and even seven different jobs due to low-pay, limited working hours and employment instability. The study highlights the increasing variability of working hours, together with the dual fragmentation of working time and employment. It identifies unique dimensions of work extensification, as these workers have an amalgamation of jobs dispersed across fragmented, expansive and complex temporalities and spatialities. This research makes explicit the interconnected economic and temporal challenges of low-pay, insufficient hours and precarious employment, which creates significant challenges of juggling multiple jobs with familial responsibilities.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Smith & Jo McBride, 2021. "‘Working to Live, Not Living to Work’: Low-Paid Multiple Employment and Work–Life Articulation," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(2), pages 256-276, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:35:y:2021:i:2:p:256-276
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017020942645
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Duncan Gallie & Alan Felstead & Francis Green & Hande Inanc, 2017. "The hidden face of job insecurity," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(1), pages 36-53, February.
    2. Andrew Atherton & João R. Faria & Daniel Wheatley & Dongxu Wu & Zhongmin Wu, 2016. "The decision to moonlight: does second job holding by the self-employed and employed differ?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 279-299, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Valeria Pulignano & Glenn Morgan, 2023. "The ‘Grey Zone’ at the Interface of Work and Home: Theorizing Adaptations Required by Precarious Work," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(1), pages 257-273, February.
    2. Giorgos Gouzoulis & Panagiotis (Takis) Iliopoulos & Giorgos Galanis, 2023. "Financialization and the rise of atypical work," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(1), pages 24-45, March.

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