the rise of the precariat
June Zaccone
Economic Questions: Guy Standing and the Rise of the Precariat
The report, published by the Institute of Policy Studies, focuses on 20 of the S&P 500 corporations that have primarily US-based workforces and report the lowest median wages of the group.
Collectively, this “Low-Wage 20” employs 6.7 million people in the US. The median pay at a majority (75%) of the companies is lower than the income minimum for a family of three to be eligible for Medicaid in most states. At 13 of the companies, median pay was also lower than the Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program income threshold for a family of three.
Nearly a quarter of Walmart employees (29.3%) and half of Amazon workers (48.4%) in the Nevada – which collects Medicaid enrollment numbers among employees at large companies – were on Medicaid in 2024, according to the report.....
Guy Standing identified the precariat as a class characterised by uncertainty. Members of the precariat often experience:
short-term or zero-hours contracts, fluctuating income, limited access to benefits or protections, lack of occupational identity, and minimal control over working conditions.
This is not simply low pay. It is a condition of permanent instability. The precariat cannot plan, save, or build a secure future.
Guy argues that this condition is becoming the norm rather than the exception....