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Temporary employment, job satisfaction and subjective well-being

Author

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  • Chris Dawson

    (School of Management, University of Bath)

  • Michail Veliziotis

    (University of the West of England, Bristol)

Abstract

This paper is concerned with whether employees on temporary contracts in Britain report lower well-being than those on permanent contracts, and whether this relationship is mechanised by differences in certain aspects of job satisfaction. Previous research has identified a well-being gap between permanent and temporary employees but has not addressed what individual and contract specific characteristics contribute to this observed difference. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), this paper finds that a large proportion of the difference in self-reported well-being between permanent and temporary employees appears to be explained by differences in satisfaction with job security. Other dimensions of job satisfaction are found to be less important. This leads us to believe that an employment contract characterised by a definite duration lowers individual well-being principally through a heightened feeling of job insecurity.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris Dawson & Michail Veliziotis, 2013. "Temporary employment, job satisfaction and subjective well-being," Working Papers 20131309, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwe:wpaper:20131309
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    Cited by:

    1. Minelli, Liliana & Pigini, Claudia & Chiavarini, Manuela & Bartolucci, Francesco, 2014. "Employment status and perceived health condition: longitudinal data from Italy," MPRA Paper 55788, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Auer, Wolfgang, 2015. "Health Consequences of Starting a Career on a Fixed-Term Contract," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113080, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    3. Manuela Ortega-Gil & Antonio Mata García & Chaima ElHichou-Ahmed, 2021. "The Effect of Ageing, Gender and Environmental Problems in Subjective Well-Being," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-14, November.
    4. Sania Zafar & Danish Ahmed Siddiqui, 2019. "Factors Affecting Employees Performance and Retention: A Comparative Analysis of Banking and Educational Sector of Karachi," Business Management and Strategy, Macrothink Institute, vol. 10(1), pages 93-124, December.
    5. Wolfgang Auer & Natalia Danzer, 2015. "Uncertainty in the labour market: How does fixed-term employment affect fertility and mental health of the young generation?," IBS Working Papers 6/2015, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    6. Milena Nikolova & Carol Graham, 2014. "Employment, late-life work, retirement, and well-being in Europe and the United States," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-30, December.
    7. Wolfgang Auer, 2018. "Empirical Essays on the Socioeconomic Consequences of Economic Uncertainty," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 79.
    8. Scheuring, Sonja & Voßemer, Jonas & Baranowska-Rataj, Anna & Tattarini, Giulia, 2021. "Does Fixed-Term Employment Have Spillover Effects on the Well-Being of Partners? A Panel Data Analysis for East and West Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 22(7), pages 3001-3021.
    9. Wietzke, Frank-Borge, 2014. "Pathways from jobs to social cohesion," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6804, The World Bank.
    10. Inga Laß & Thomas Skora & Heiko Rüger & Mark Wooden & Martin Bujard, 2024. "Does temporary employment increase length of commuting? Longitudinal evidence from Australia and Germany," Transportation, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 1467-1491, August.
    11. Paul Schumann & Lars Kuchinke, 2019. "Do(n’t) Worry, It’s Temporary: The Effects of Fixed‑Term Employment on Affective Well‑Being," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1065, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    12. Dawson, Chris & Veliziotis, Michail & Pacheco, Gail & Webber, Don J., 2015. "Is temporary employment a cause or consequence of poor mental health? A panel data analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 50-58.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Temporary employment; well-being; job satisfaction;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts

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