There are currently millions of domestic workers as vulnerable and underclass workers in China. The demand for domestic workers will continue to increase in another millions of urban families in time of ageing and labour shortage. Domestic workers are predominantly working poor female, low-skilled migrant and informal: these three characteristics have determined their poor conditions in the cities. When such a large body of domestic workers live in the improvised, disadvantaged and discriminated conditions in urban China, it is crucial to undertake a critical analysis of this issue to explore why this has happened and why it has been so hard to change their conditions. This thesis seeks to explain: why is there a persistent lack of social and legal protection for these vulnerable workers in urban China? To do so, I first explore two lines of theoretical frameworks to construct the issues of domestic workers in 1) the gender implications of domestic work and 2) the relationship between migration and labour market mechanism. Second, I analyse the larger socioeconomic structures that shape the working and living conditions of domestic workers. The process of reconstructing the dual labour system integrated with the institutionalized urban registration system in China has exacerbated the divergence between countryside and cities, between men and women, and between formal and informal labour. Third, I use the case studies to present the consequences of the informality of domestic work service in China, including the unrecognition of labour law, the unequal power relationship between service employers and domestic workers, and the media’s biased position in promoting the in-home care model. I find that the state has designed multiple institutions to secure a pool of cheap labour from the rural regions to facilitate the urbanisation at a low price. In particular, the central government has prioritised the urban development by encouraging more women to participate in the labour force and justified its absence in the provision of public elderly care by outsourcing the care services to the private market of domestic workers.

Hårdnande konkurrens i en globaliserad och teknologidriven arbetsmarknad föranleder ökade krav på flexibla affärsmodeller för allt fler arbetsgivare. Atypisk arbetskraft används som en reserv för att möta marknadens fluktuerande behov och som en buffert för fast anställda vilket förklaras ge upphov till ojämlika arbetsförhållanden och segmentering av arbetskraften i ”insiders” och ”outsiders”. Denna studie ämnar bidra till att fylla den kunskapslucka som finns avseende flexibilisering i den svenska arbetsmarknaden genom att studera skillnader i arbetstillfredsställelse mellan fast och atypiskt anställda och därtill den medierande effekten av lön och arbetsotrygghet. Studien utgår från Dual Labor Market Theory vilken dikotomiserar arbetsmarknaden i ett primärt och sekundärt segment med starka institutionella barriärer emellan. Arne Kallebergs teori om arbetsbelöningar utgör utgångspunkt för studiens teoretisering och operationalisering av arbetstillfredsställelse. Datamaterialet baseras på den sjätte europeiska undersökningen om arbetsvillkor, EWCS6, 2015. Analysen utgår från totalt 807 anställda män och kvinnor mellan 18–65 år som vid datainsamlingstillfället var folkbokförda i Sverige. Med bivariata analyser visas att atypiskt anställda har lägre lön och upplever en högre arbetsotrygghet än fast anställda. Genom enkel och multipel regressionsanalys visas att atypisk anställning är negativt associerat med arbetstillfredsställelse och att lön medierar det negativa sambandet. Resultaten går i linje med tidigare forskning som visat negativ inverkan av atypisk anställning på arbetstillfredsställelse och lön samt ger stöd åt Dual Labor Market Theory genom att påvisa strukturella komponenters betydelse i sammanhanget. Otrygghet i arbetet visas ha svag inverkan på arbetstillfredsställelse och obefintlig medierande effekt på sambandet mellan atypisk anställning och arbetstillfredsställelse vilket strider mot tidigare forskningsresultat och diskuteras med hänsyn till det ekonomiska skyddsnät som innefattas i svensk socialpolitik däribland A-kassa, socialbidrag och statligt finansierade basutgifter.

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / The orthodox school's explanation for wage differentials, unemployment and labour market discrimination and the policy measures which they proposed did not offer workable solutions to the problems of the day. During the late 1960s and early 1970s a group of American labour economists conducted field studies in American urban ghettos which resulted in the formulation of the dual labour market theory. In contrast with the orthodox approach, which emphasises free market forces and investment in human capital, the dual labour market theory focuses on the dual structure of the labour market. The labour market is divided between a primary (high-wage) and a secondary (low-wage) sector, with little or no mobility between the sectors. An oversupply of labour in the secondary sector and unemployment are the results. These labour market phenomena and dualism also characterise the South African labour market and should be taken into account when policy measures are formulated. / Loonverskille, werkloosheid en arbeidsmarkdiskriminasie is algemene verskynsels in arbeids· markte wereldwyd. Die ortodokse denkskool se verklaring vir die verskynsels en die beleidsmaatreels wat bulle voorste~ het met verloop van tyd ontevredenheid ontketen omdat dit geen werkbare oplossing vir die probleme van die dag kon hied nie. Gedurende die laat ·1960s en vroee 1970s het 'n groep Arnerikaanse arbeidsekonome verskeie veldstudies in verskillende Arneri· kaanse stedelike ghetto's geloods op soek na 'n meer aanvaarbare verklaring vir hierdie verskyn· sels. Uit hierdie veldstudies is die dualistiese arbeidsmarkteorie geformuleer. In teenstelling met die ortodokse benadering, wat Idem le op die werking van vrye markkragte en investering in menslike kapitaal, benadruk die dualistiese arbeidsmarkteorie die tweeledige struktuur van die arbeidsmark. Die arbeidsmark is verdeel tusssen 'n primere (hoogbesoldigde) en sekondere (laagbesoldigde) sektor, met min of geen mobiliteit tussen die sektore nie. Werkers se toegang tot die primere sektor word beperk, met 'n ooraanbod van arbeid in die sekondere sektor en werkloosheid as die gevolg. Hierdie arbeidsmarkverskynsels en dualisme is ook kenmerkend van die Suid·Afrikaanse arbeidsmark en beleidsmaatreels moet daarmee rekening hou / Economics and Management Sciences / M. Comm. (Economy)

<p>The general aim of the present thesis is to increase our understanding of perceived employability. Employability perceptions refer to individuals’ beliefs about their possibilities of finding new, equal, or better employment. How people perceive their possibilities of getting employment is important in a labour market characterised by flexibility and uncertainty, and the present thesis sets out to investigate the nature, determinants, and implications of employability perceptions, using two population-based samples. In Study I, the aim was to study if employability and self-efficacy are two distinct but related constructs and, along with this, to investigate the nature of their association. The results from this study indicated that employability was distinct from self-efficacy and, furthermore, that employability predicted subsequent self-efficacy. In Study II, the aim was to identify predictors of perceived employability. The combination of situational and individual factors was identified as important for employability perceptions. National economic prosperity, living/working in metropolitan areas, poor physical and good psychological work environments, formal education, and competency development were found to be positively associated with perceived employability. The aim of Study III was to investigate if employability could predict subsequent health and well-being. The results from this study implied that individuals who reported higher levels of employability also reported better global health and mental well-being, but not physical complaints, one year later, after controlling for work environment variables and previous health status. In conclusion, the present thesis has implications for theory as well as practice when it concludes that employability is not primarily a self-evaluation, that it is dependent on individual as well as situational factors, and that it has implications for health and well-being.</p>

The general aim of the present thesis is to increase our understanding of perceived employability. Employability perceptions refer to individuals’ beliefs about their possibilities of finding new, equal, or better employment. How people perceive their possibilities of getting employment is important in a labour market characterised by flexibility and uncertainty, and the present thesis sets out to investigate the nature, determinants, and implications of employability perceptions, using two population-based samples. In Study I, the aim was to study if employability and self-efficacy are two distinct but related constructs and, along with this, to investigate the nature of their association. The results from this study indicated that employability was distinct from self-efficacy and, furthermore, that employability predicted subsequent self-efficacy. In Study II, the aim was to identify predictors of perceived employability. The combination of situational and individual factors was identified as important for employability perceptions. National economic prosperity, living/working in metropolitan areas, poor physical and good psychological work environments, formal education, and competency development were found to be positively associated with perceived employability. The aim of Study III was to investigate if employability could predict subsequent health and well-being. The results from this study implied that individuals who reported higher levels of employability also reported better global health and mental well-being, but not physical complaints, one year later, after controlling for work environment variables and previous health status. In conclusion, the present thesis has implications for theory as well as practice when it concludes that employability is not primarily a self-evaluation, that it is dependent on individual as well as situational factors, and that it has implications for health and well-being.

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / The orthodox school's explanation for wage differentials, unemployment and labour market discrimination and the policy measures which they proposed did not offer workable solutions to the problems of the day. During the late 1960s and early 1970s a group of American labour economists conducted field studies in American urban ghettos which resulted in the formulation of the dual labour market theory. In contrast with the orthodox approach, which emphasises free market forces and investment in human capital, the dual labour market theory focuses on the dual structure of the labour market. The labour market is divided between a primary (high-wage) and a secondary (low-wage) sector, with little or no mobility between the sectors. An oversupply of labour in the secondary sector and unemployment are the results. These labour market phenomena and dualism also characterise the South African labour market and should be taken into account when policy measures are formulated. / Loonverskille, werkloosheid en arbeidsmarkdiskriminasie is algemene verskynsels in arbeids· markte wereldwyd. Die ortodokse denkskool se verklaring vir die verskynsels en die beleidsmaatreels wat bulle voorste~ het met verloop van tyd ontevredenheid ontketen omdat dit geen werkbare oplossing vir die probleme van die dag kon hied nie. Gedurende die laat ·1960s en vroee 1970s het 'n groep Arnerikaanse arbeidsekonome verskeie veldstudies in verskillende Arneri· kaanse stedelike ghetto's geloods op soek na 'n meer aanvaarbare verklaring vir hierdie verskyn· sels. Uit hierdie veldstudies is die dualistiese arbeidsmarkteorie geformuleer. In teenstelling met die ortodokse benadering, wat Idem le op die werking van vrye markkragte en investering in menslike kapitaal, benadruk die dualistiese arbeidsmarkteorie die tweeledige struktuur van die arbeidsmark. Die arbeidsmark is verdeel tusssen 'n primere (hoogbesoldigde) en sekondere (laagbesoldigde) sektor, met min of geen mobiliteit tussen die sektore nie. Werkers se toegang tot die primere sektor word beperk, met 'n ooraanbod van arbeid in die sekondere sektor en werkloosheid as die gevolg. Hierdie arbeidsmarkverskynsels en dualisme is ook kenmerkend van die Suid·Afrikaanse arbeidsmark en beleidsmaatreels moet daarmee rekening hou / Economics and Management Sciences / M. Comm. (Economy)