Accidental flexicurity or workfare? Navigating ride-share work and Australia’s welfare system

Alex Veen, Tom Barratt, Caleb Goods and Marian Baird
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Alex Veen: The University of Sydney, Australia
Tom Barratt: The University of Western Australia, Australia
Caleb Goods: The University of Western Australia, Australia
Marian Baird: The University of Sydney, Australia

Economic and Industrial Democracy, 2024, vol. 45, issue 3, 766-793

Abstract: This mixed-methods study explores the intersection of the ‘gig’ economy and welfare state in Australia, exploring how ride-share work has provided a pathway into paid work for three traditionally disadvantaged groups: individuals with disability, with caring responsibilities, or aged 45 and over. It examines these workers’ motivations for the work and explores how the welfare system shapes their experiences. The study finds push factors, such as past labour market discrimination and limited alternatives, and pull factors, like the relative flexibility of the work, which allows for the accommodation of planned and unplanned absences, are driving individuals into the ‘gig’ economy. The authors identify a duality about these experiences. On the one hand, the work represents a de facto form of ‘workfare’. On the other, the welfare system is cushioning the work’s job and income insecurity, providing individuals with flexibility and security unavailable elsewhere, an unintended policy outcome the authors label ‘accidental flexicurity’.

Keywords: Atypical employment; disadvantaged workers; flexicurity; gig economy; welfare system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:45:y:2024:i:3:p:766-793

DOI: 10.1177/0143831X231197057

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