Bad Jobs on the Rise? Age, Period, and Cohort Effects on Low-Paid Work in Hong Kong, 1986–2016

Jing Lin and Long Hao ()
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Jing Lin: Nanjing University of Finance and Economics
Long Hao: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2023, vol. 170, issue 3, No 15, 1119-1140

Abstract: Abstract Low-paid employment is a global challenge that has become more acute in recent years. While previous research has examined the micro and macro factors associated with low-paid work, the temporal dynamics of this phenomenon have received little attention. We address this gap in the literature by disentangling the effects of age, period, and cohort on low-paid work and documenting their demographic heterogeneity. Using repeated cross-sectional survey data derived from the 1986–2016 Population Census and By-census, we employ a novel age-period-cohort approach (HAPC-CCREM) to study the temporal patterns of low-paid work in Hong Kong. Our results reveal that the predicted probabilities of low-paid work follow a U-shaped curve over the career lifecycle of Hong Kong workers; show a continuous increase over the historical period of two decades and a slight decline in the last decade; and rise with cohort alternation for workers born in the second half of the twentieth century. Therefore, our findings suggest that a labor policy focusing on unemployment reduction is not sufficient to address the problem of low-paid employment in Hong Kong. Policymakers should consider promoting the diversification of existing industries and the accessibility of quality employment opportunities to reduce labour market segmentation in a service economy; and focus on protecting specific disadvantaged workers from falling into social marginalization and working poverty.

Keywords: Low-paid work; Age-period-cohort approach; Hong Kong; HAPC-CCREM; Income polarization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-023-03236-0

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