This means they would have employment rights and would be able to access social protection systems. The proposed EU directive on platform work seeks to address this by introducing a rebuttable presumption of employment for platform workers. Platform workers spend much time on unpaid work and have little access to social protection, frequently being classified as self-employed. If digital labour platforms are truly to advance a more inclusive labour market, improving working conditions on these platforms is the first step to take.įor many platform workers, working conditions remain precarious and insecure. Taking action for gender equality in the platform economy A ‘gender-blind’ algorithm that does not factor in structural differences in outside responsibilities actually ends up reinforcing gender inequality. This is particularly disadvantageous for women who shoulder caring responsibilities alongside work, and thus may have less flexibility in terms of their working hours. Workers frequently have little choice over scheduling shifts and can be penalised by algorithms for rejecting assignments, often without recourse to intermediation. What’s more, in many cases, the much-vaunted flexibility is illusory. Yet evidence shows that clients give women systematically lower ratings than men, a pattern of gender discrimination that is strengthened through algorithmic penalties for lower-ranked workers. At first glance, this practice appears gender neutral, but it may well lead to the reinforcement of gender biases.įor example, algorithms often rank and assign tasks to people working on digital labour platforms using customer ratings. In many cases, they govern the allocation of tasks to workers. Algorithms needs to be gender-sensitive, not gender-blindĪlgorithms play a key role in managing digital labour platforms. Rather, women simply end up pulling a ‘ double shift’ – working on platforms for additional income, yet still being primarily responsible for picking the kids up from school, preparing dinner and doing the laundry. So even if platforms enable more flexible work for women, they do nothing to challenge the underlying inequalities and gender roles surrounding women’s role as primary caregivers. On the flipside, even where men and women spend similar time working in the regular economy and on platforms, women still spend more time on childcare and domestic work. But for women working in the platform economy, having children is demonstrably associated with lower participation in work, earnings and working hours. In an online environment with limited information and time, employers may well resort to stereotypes when making decisions – like hiring women for writing and translation work but not for software design.Īnd what about that promise of flexibility? It’s true that women are more likely than men to work on platforms because they can combine it with caring responsibilities. In fact, online marketplaces may reinforce gender stereotypes. And across the platform economy, women work in jobs traditionally seen as ‘feminine’, such as teaching and domestic services. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the gender wage gap persists on digital labour platforms. Work in the digital labour economy mirrors existing inequalities within the traditional labour market, including those related to gender. Digital labour platforms do not subvert gender inequality – they merely replicate it But all hope is not lost and improvements can – and should – be made. ![]() As things stand, there is no reason to believe that digital labour platforms will advance gender equality. Digital labour platforms are a novel way of organising working relationships but they facilitate transactions between real world individuals and are built using real world data – a world that is full of biases. According to this line of argument, digital labour platforms, seen as a ‘gender-blind’ online environment, should encourage female labour market participation and gender equality. This could be seen as especially advantageous for women, who are still the ones primarily responsible for domestic and care responsibilities in many countries. ![]() ![]() Some commentators and policymakers portray platform work as beneficial for workers because it offers flexibility and autonomy when scheduling their work. The EU’s platform economy, which ranges from food delivery and taxi services to platforms where workers perform multiple tasks online, grew almost fivefold between 20. Work in the platform economy – or the ‘gig economy’ – is on the rise.
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