Session: Precarity and Work in the Margins: Labor, Identity, and Mental Health in a Shifting Economy (Society for Social Work and Research 30th Annual Conference Anniversary)

As economic inequality deepens and work arrangements become increasingly unstable, research on the quality and continuity of employment has gained urgency. This symposium brings together four papers that collectively examine how labor precarity, occupational segregation, employment transitions, and caregiving intersect to shape worker well-being-particularly for marginalized populations. Centering workers whose labor experiences are often excluded from dominant policy and economic discourses-such as women, workers of color, lower-wage earners, and caregivers-this symposium offers a multidimensional view of contemporary employment conditions. Grounded in the ethics of social work and a commitment to equity and dignity, each paper provides empirically rich insights that are both analytically rigorous and policy relevant.

The first two papers draw from a shared, original survey of over 5,500 Illinois workers and apply a common multidimensional framework to assess employment quality across ten domains, including pay, job security, advancement opportunities, scheduling control, and workplace support. These papers work in tandem to uncover structural barriers in access to high-quality jobs and the role of occupational gender segregation in shaping workplace experiences. Paper 1 introduces a job quality composite score and reveals significant disparities by gender and race in occupational placement. Paper 2 builds on this by examining how occupational gender segregation shapes these gaps, finding that while women in female-dominated occupations report lower advancement and autonomy, they experience higher social support and job meaningfulness-highlighting a tension between structural disadvantage and social compensation mechanisms. Their paired analyses provide both a comprehensive portrait of occupational inequality and a nuanced understanding of how gender and race intersect with job quality.

The second half of the symposium extends the structural analysis by focusing on employment transitions and their implications for worker well-being. Paper 3 uses two waves of nationally representative panel data to demonstrate that both persistent precarious employment and transitions into it are linked to worsening mental health outcomes, positioning exploitative labor conditions as critical social determinants of health. Paper 4 examines maternal employment trajectories and finds that job continuity is shaped by demographic inequities and mitigated by state-level paid family leave. Together, these studies emphasize how employment transitions-whether driven by systemic instability or life events-carry significant consequences for well-being and economic security.

What unites all four papers is a shared focus on labor at the margins: the ways in which gender, race, class, and caregiving shape access to quality employment and the experience of work. Methodologically diverse yet thematically cohesive, the panel draws from both original survey data and nationally representative longitudinal sources to offer a comprehensive and timely analysis of labor in a shifting economy. Collectively, the findings call for policy and organizational reforms that challenge systemic inequities and promote a more inclusive, stable, and equitable labor market.