Work Experiences, Vulnerabilities and Health among Working-Class Men before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic, in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

In this article we analyze the links between precarious work and health, based on the work experiences of working-class adult men who live in the periphery of Buenos Aires city, Argentina. We conducted face-to-face, semi-structured qualitative interviews between April and August 2022, which allowed us to enquire about their work experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and prior to it. We show how current and former jobs, mostly manual, low-skilled, and with different precarious aspects, expose them to various psychophysical strains, vulnerabilities, and material deprivation, as well as time poverty. Their jobs also constrain their ability to carry out health self-care practices and their personal and family life quality. In the analysis, we incorporate a gender, intersectional and life cycle perspective that allows us to observe the implications of job insecurity in this group of workers, contributing to the studies on precarious work and health.