Association of Changes in Precarious Employment with Psychological Distress Among Immigrant and Canadian-Born Workers: A Fixed-Effects Model of Panel Data

Background and Purpose

Precarious employment, characterized by temporary jobs, high insecurity, low wages, and limited benefits, negatively impacts workers' mental health. In Canada, immigrants often face precarious conditions due to language barriers, unrecognized foreign credentials, and unfamiliarity with the labour market, leading to their overrepresentation in precarious jobs. However, there is a lack of research focused on how precarious employment affects immigrants' mental health specifically. Using a nationally representative longitudinal dataset, this study seeks to investigate the relationships between precarious employment and psychological distress among immigrant and Canadian-born workers.

Methods

The study analyzed Waves two, three, and four of the Longitudinal and International Study of Adults (LISA) linked to the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB). It included 3,800 individuals (rounded to the nearest 100 based on the vetting rules) aged 18 to 60 in 2014 who were either employed or unemployed and actively seeking a job in the past four weeks across all three waves. Psychological distress was measured using the 10-item Kessler Psychological Scale (K10). Precarious employment was assessed through five indicators: temporary job, low pay, lack of labour protection and benefits, and job insecurity. Covariates included time-varying sociodemographic characteristics, immigrant factors, and disability status. Multivariable fixed effects models with structural equation modelling (SEM) examined the relationship between precarious employment indicators and psychological distress, analyzing both the overall study sample and subgroups of immigrant and Canadian-born workers.

Results

Between 2014 and 2018, there was a reduction in levels of job insecurity and an increase in hourly wage and access to work benefits but a gradual rise in psychological distress among workers, regardless of their immigrant status. Specifically, job insecurity and a shift toward temporary job were associated with increased psychological distress for all workers as a whole group. When distinguishing immigrants from Canadian-born workers, higher job insecurity was associated with a greater level of psychological distress only among immigrant workers (β = .018, p = .002), while the association between temporary job and increased psychological distress was only observed among Canadian-born workers (β = .028, p = .021). Results from the immigrant-only subgroup analyses showed that an increase in job insecurity was significantly associated with high levels of psychological distress, specifically among female, white, and established immigrants. Additionally, the low hourly wage was a significant factor contributing to psychological distress for immigrants from the economic admission class.

Conclusions and Implications

The study highlights the distinct associations between types of precarious employment and psychological distress among immigrant and Canadian-born workers. It argues for recognizing immigration as a unique social determinant of health, given that precarious employment affects the mental health of immigrant workers differently. There is a critical need for population-based and longitudinal studies that oversample immigrants to explore these dynamics further. Future mental health policies aimed at supporting workers' mental health should take into account the unique needs and ongoing challenges faced by both immigrant and Canadian-born workers when allocating resources.