Nonstandard Work, Substandard Jobs: Flexible Work Arrangements in the United States
Author(s)
Kalleberg, Arne L.; Rasell, Edith; Cassirer, Naomi; Reskin, Barbara F.; Hudson, Ken; Webster, David; Appelbaum, Eileen; Spalter-Roth, Roberta M.
Abstract
With the presumed growth of non standard work arrangements in the 1980s and 1990s, the media forecast the dissolution of employment stability and a new, more entrepreneurial economy in which workers bounce from job to job, engaged in cut-throat competition for short-term, project-oriented work. This reinforced the popular perception that non-standard work is inferior to full-time regular employment and undertaken by those who cannot find better jobs. To better understand the reality, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics added questions about contingent work to the February 1995 Current Population Survey (CPS). Using the BLS data, it is possible to investigate several aspects of the quality of non-standard jobs and the motivations of those who hold them. This study is a comprehensive analysis of these data.
