Another important aspect is the consequences of non-standard employment and unemployment for workers’ long-term employability. This relates to two aspects, firstly the preservation and ex- tension of qualifications and skills via further training and secondly the effects of employment on workers’ health. Regarding the first aspect, studies show that all types of non-standard workers have lower chances of participating in formal training than standard workers (Baltes and Hense 2009; Bellmann et al. 2013; Brehmer and Seifert 2008; Expertenkommission Finanzierung
7.0 7.3 6.6 7.6 6.8 6.2 6.9 7.3 7.2 7.3 7.3 6.8 0 2 4 6 8
Standard Fixed-term, FT Permanent, PT Fixed-term, PT Minijob Temporary Agency Av er ag e sa tisf ac tio n Men Women
65 Lebenslangen Lernens 2004; Linne and Voswinkel 1989; Reinowski and Sauermann 2008).59 The gap
regarding further training is particularly large for fixed-term part-time workers (Expertenkommis- sion Finanzierung Lebenslangen Lernens 2004). It is also very large for minijobbers, who were shown to have a lower likelihood of participating in training than unemployed workers, while part- time workers and fixed-term contract workers have a higher likelihood than the unemployed (Bell- mann et al. 2013).
A lack of participation in training can be due either to a lack of opportunities and/or to a lack of interest: On the one hand, employers can be expected to be less inclined to invest in the human capital of workers who might not stay permanently or work only few hours. Employees themselves, on the other hand, might not be willing to train in a position they are only filling temporarily. Work- ers’ perception of their training opportunities clearly points to a lack of opportunities rather than a lack of interest: Workers in all forms of non-standard employment are less satisfied with their train- ing and learning possibilities than standard workers (Bellmann et al. 2013). Furthermore, agency workers are often dissatisfied with their career opportunities at the workplace (Grobe and Dörning 2009) and often fear a blockage of their training aspirations (Dörre et al. 2004; Kraemer and Speidel 2004b).
The previous sections have demonstrated that some forms of employment, particularly tem- porary agency work but also fixed-term contracts and minijobs, are connected to specific psycho- logical strains and stressors, such as job insecurity, economic concerns, lack of social integration or monotonous tasks. Moreover, temporary agency work was shown to also be connected to physical strains. Therefore, the question arises whether non-standard employment also affects the health
of workers, thereby reducing their employability in the long run. Job insecurity, for example, has been shown to have adverse health outcomes, mainly mentally but also physically, and can be as harmful as job loss itself (Sverke, Hellgren and Näswall 2006). As discussed below, bad health con- ditions in turn increase the risk of unemployment and prolong the subsequent job search.
There is some indication of negative health effects of fixed-term contracts: Rodriguez (2002) finds that fixed-term workers have a higher likelihood of reporting poor health than standard em- ployees, but only those working full-time. Moreover, entering permanent employment from unem- ployment is more beneficial for health than entering fixed-term work (Gash, Mertens and Gordo 2007).
59 The results have to be qualified in that a reduced access to training is not always causally linked to the form of employ- ment: According to Dütsch (2011), the lower access to training for agency workers is due to the comparatively low quali- fications and the simple tasks of temporary agency workers.
66 Several studies have shown a worse mental health of temporary agency workers compared to direct workers (Dütsch 2011; Grobe and Dörning 2009). Moreover, temporary agency workers ex- hibit worse physical health conditions (Dütsch 2011; Wieland and Krajewski 2002), and the extent of physical problems rises with employment duration (Wieland and Krajewski 2002). However, the causality between health and agency work can be debated: On the one hand, the evidence pre- sented in the previous sections points to the fact that the specific mental and physical strains linked to temporary agency work can deteriorate workers’ health. On the other hand, as Dütsch (2011) stresses, it is also possible that agency workers were in bad health before and took up agency work precisely because they could not find direct employment due to their health problems.
The causal link between part-time work and health can also go both ways: On the one hand, part-time work can be connected to stressors such as financial difficulties or lack of career oppor- tunities. On the other hand, part-time work might be less demanding due to the reduced working hours and therefore be taken up by workers with lower health. The latter case, however, seems to apply to only a minority, as less than 8% of male and 3% of female part-time workers report working part-time due to a medical condition (StBA 2015e). Rodriguez (2002) shows that permanent part- time workers and permanent full-time workers do not differ significantly in their health status.
The connection between unemployment and health is a well-researched area (see e.g. Paul and Moser 2009 for a meta-analysis). Unemployment is linked to a range of strains that can cause psychosocial stress, such as low income, loss of time structures and contacts at the workplace, and reduced social prestige (Kroll and Lampert 2012). It has been shown in various studies that unem- ployment deteriorates health considerably (Paul and Moser 2009). It mainly has adverse effects on mental health, but it also negatively affects physical health (Paul and Moser 2015). In international comparison, the effect of unemployment on mental well-being is particularly pronounced in Ger- many (BMAS 2013). Furthermore, the negative health effects become stronger the longer the un- employment lasts (Paul and Moser 2009). Moreover, unemployment is associated with health-rel- evant behaviour, such as smoking and sports (BMAS 2013).60 Unemployment was furthermore
shown to be associated with an increased mortality risk (Grobe 2006). In contrast, a change from unemployment into employment goes in line with an improvement in health (Paul and Moser 2009). Nevertheless, it has to be added that the causality also goes the other way in the sense that bad health increases the risk of unemployment and prolongs the time needed to find a new job. This effect is, however, small compared to the effect of unemployment on health (Paul and Moser 2009).
60 However, Schunck and Rogge (2012) find that unemployment and smoking are not causally linked but the connection is due to unobserved differences between employed and unemployed persons.
67 For Australia, the literature has also pointed to reduced access of temporary agency, casual and part-time workers to employer-provided training (Connell and Burgess 2002; Draca and Green 2004; Hall 2004). Regarding the mental health of workers, Richardson, Lester and Zhang (2012) show in bivariate analyses that many non-standard forms of employment are connected to signifi- cantly reduced mental health compared to standard workers. However, in multivariate, longitudinal analyses there remains only a significant negative health effect for men with fixed-term contracts and a positive health effect of full-time casual work for women.61 Green and Leeves (2013) find
indirect negative effects of casual work on life satisfaction via higher financial insecurity and job insecurity. Regarding part-time work, Wooden et al. (2009) show that life satisfaction is not affected so long as the working hours match workers’ preferences, while under- and overemployment both negatively affect life satisfaction. In contrast, Booth and van Ours (2009) show for the specific sub- group of coupled persons of middle age that women have a higher life satisfaction when working part-time, while men have a higher satisfaction when working full-time.