In-work poverty among precarious workers in western China: Structural risks and their influence on personal agency and capability deprivation

Abstract

Precarity in the labour market and in-work poverty have received little attention in China, primarily because this is a recent phenomenon, triggered by China’s rapid socio-economic transformation over the last four decades. Furthermore, existing literature on the topic narrows the focus on economic poverty and fails to outline a consistent explanation for the causes and processes influencing this phenomenon. The present research aims to understand the experiences and dynamics of in-work poverty in China within the capability framework. Based on the risk society theory and the capability approach, the research defines precarious employment as employment characterised by uncertainty and risk, which is in turn related to instability and insecurity. In tandem, it understands in-work poverty as having a job with capability deprivation. Within this framework, the research investigated the causes and the consequences of precarious employment and in-work poverty through five sub-questions relevant to the roles played by the labour market, the family, social relationships, social welfare (the Urban Minimum Livelihood Guarantee programme and Public Welfare Job programme) and personal agency. Based on the lived experiences of 46 participants, the research found that most precarious workers continue to face the risk of in-work poverty (capability deprivation). Through examining the above five stakeholders’ reactions in the context of normalised precarious employment and life in China, the research argues that the capability deprivation of precarious workers is a result of a risk society that not only precludes them from institutional protection, but which also destroys their aspirations to pursue a better life. Using an evidence-based approach, the research provides a more authentic and comprehensive picture for understanding the in-work poverty phenomenon in western China.