Platform work is transforming European labour markets, impacting on the employment opportunities that both men and women enjoy. While the platform economy holds the promise of a more flexible and autonomous work, it also raises challenges especially for women who typically occupy more flexible labour market positions.
Gender and work
Gender has a significant impact on how people experience working life. A large body of research has documented the effect of gender on an array of individual-level outcomes including job quality, pay, work–life balance and labour market participation.
Evidence demonstrates that in recent decades the participation of women in the labour market has been steadily growing. The EU gender employment gap – the difference between the employment rate for men and women – declined from 17.8% in 2002 to 11.8% in 2019. Platform work has provided opportunities for women and traditionally disadvantaged groups to participate in the labour market. In recent years, an increasing number of women are engaging in the platform economy in the EU. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the trend of increasing labour force participation of women including through digital labour platforms.
Participation of women in platform work
In the EU, an estimated 38% of platform workers are women with significant differences between countries, sectors and occupations. The survey of platform workers by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) reveals that women are more likely to dominate specific types of on-location platform work such as care services. In contrast, men dominate transport and delivery services, as well as remote professional activities.
The gendered patterns of work in the platform economy are evident when analysing the level of engagement in platform work. Compared to men, women are more likely to engage in the platform economy on a more irregular basis. Women also tend to engage in platform work to gain an additional income and to capitalise on the possibility to combine this form of work with family commitments. These effects differ across age categories: young women use platform work as a source of additional income while prime age women work through platforms because doing so contributes to a better work–life balance. In contrast, men use platform work to pursue work more globally and expand their client base.
Research on gender in the platform economy also shows that an intersectional approach that takes into account its interaction with other markers is necessary to better capture implications for women.
While gendered differences in the platform economy mirror general labour market patterns, they tend to be smaller. Employment in areas such as caring for elderly people, housekeeping or home services is more gender balanced in comparison to the traditional labour market.
- Eurofound and EIGE publication: Gender differences in motivation to engage in platform work
- EIGE: Artificial intelligence, platform work and gender equality
- EIGE: Survey of platform workers
Flexibility in platform work for women and men
Flexibility of when and where to provide work constitutes an important promise of the platform economy. However, the meaning of flexibility is not the same across genders. For women, the possibility of choosing the location and time of work is subordinate to their need for the specific flexibility of reconciling work and family commitments. While platform work can provide an opportunity for women to maintain their attachment to the labour market, it does not address the underlining issues of the double burden which highlights the disproportionate responsibilities that women assume within the household.
Gender and social protection
Although platform work can provide women with a link to the labour market, its unstable and potentially informal nature means that women can face issues with access to employment and social protection. Eurofound’s platform economy database demonstrates the growing number of legal and voluntary initiatives in recent years that seek to clarify the rights of platform workers.
- Database: Platform economy database