Annual Social Policy Forum: Improving employment quality for marginalized workers: A social work approach to social policy

Marked by escalating rates of involuntary part-time employment, fluctuating and unpredictable hours, declining job seniority, and income volatility, precarious employment is undermining the well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Using the case of recent legislation to set new work hour standards in hourly jobs, this session will consider the unique contributions of a social work perspective to policy research, which takes a holistic view of the policy process and brings policy implementation to the forefront. We will take a look at the prevalence and distribution of precarious scheduling practices in today’s labor market, disparate effects on marginalized workers, and new evidence that it is feasible for employers to change their scheduling practices, to the benefit of both the company and its employees. There will be time for questions and discussion of social work’s unique contribution to social policy research generally and employment policy specifically. 

Susan J. Lambert is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Service Administration and Director of the Employment Instability, Family Well-Being, and Social Policy Scholars Network (EINet) at the University of Chicago. Lambert studies how employer practices shape the quality of low-level jobs, the lives of low-paid workers, and inequality in society. Her research includes randomized experiments conducted in partnership with national retailers, comparative policy evaluations, and analyses of nationally representative surveys that incorporate new questions about work schedules, ones she helped develop. Lambert’s research reveals the widespread prevalence of precarious scheduling practices in today’s US labor market and the ensuing ramifications for worker wellbeing and family economic security. The findings from her research have been used to inform recent municipal and state level laws that are setting new work hour standards in hourly jobs. Lambert is currently leading a multi-disciplinary working group focused on strengthening further the empirical basis for the provisions, implementation, and enforcement of these new laws.

Sponsored by: University of Washington, School of Social Work