Precarious employment in young adults: the role of mental health from childhood to young adulthood

Purpose

Precarious employment has received renewed attention in recent years due to significant changes in work and labour markets worldwide. Precarious employment is characterized by e.g., workplace instability and unfavourable contract terms; and is becoming more common, especially among young adults. Previous studies showed significant effects of precarious employment on mental health, but the effect of early life mental health problems on precarious employment has received much less attention.

Methods

We used data from the TRacking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey, a Dutch prospective cohort study with 18 years of follow-up (N = 1055). Mental health problems were operationalised as trajectories of internalising and externalising problems from age 11 to 26. Precarious employment at age 29 was operationalised as a multidimensional score based on the number of jobs, employment type, contract, hours, and average net income. Bayesian cumulative probit models were used to examine associations between mental health problems and precarious employment.

Results

Young adults in the decreasing (SD = 0.28, 95% CI = 0.09 to 0.47), moderate-stable (SD = 0.20, 95% CI = 0.01 to 0.38), and high-stable trajectories of internalising problems (SD = 0.47, 95 CI% = 0.26 to 0.67) were more likely to experience higher levels of precarious employment than those in the low-stable trajectory. Similarly, young adults in the decreasing (SD = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.01 to 0.38), and high-stable trajectories of externalising problems (SD = 0.24, 95 CI% = 0.04 to 0.45) were more likely to experience higher levels of precarious employment.

Conclusions

Internalising and externalising mental health problems from childhood to young adulthood are associated with an increased risk of precarious employment among young adults. We need interventions that facilitate a smooth labour market entry for young adults with internalising and externalising problems into stable, non-precarious employment.

Key messages

• Internalising and externalising mental health problems from childhood to young adulthood are associated with an increased risk of precarious employment among young adults.

• There is a need for interventions that facilitate a smooth labour market entry for young adults with internalising and externalizing problems into stable, non-precarious employment.