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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Courtney McNamaraORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
© 2021 The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.Background: There are widespread concerns that workers in precarious employment have suffered the most in the COVID-19 pandemic and merit special attention. The aim of this rapid scoping umbrella review was to examine what evidence exists about how COVID-19 has affected the health of this highly vulnerable group, and what gaps remain to be investigated. Methods: Five databases were searched for systematic or scoping reviews from January 2020 to May 2021. The quality of the included reviews was determined using A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews. Results: We identified 6 reviews that reported 30 unique relevant primary studies. The included studies indicate that essential (non-health) workers are at greater risk of COVID-19 infection and case fatality than others in their surrounding community. The occupational risk of exposure to COVID-19 also seems to be greater among more precarious categories of workers, including younger workers and workers in low-income and low-skilled occupations. Further, hazardous working conditions faced by many essential workers appear to have amplified the pandemic, as several occupational sites became 'super-spreaders', due to an inability to socially distance at work and high contact rates among workers. Finally, employment and financial insecurity generated by the pandemic appears to be associated with negative mental health outcomes. The quality of the included reviews however, and their primary studies, were generally weak and many gaps remain in the evidence base. Conclusions: Our study highlights that COVID-19 is creating new health risks for precarious workers as well as exacerbating the pre-existing health risks of precarious employment.
Author(s): McNamara CL, McKee M, Stuckler D
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: European Journal of Public Health
Year: 2021
Volume: 31
Issue: 4
Pages: IV40-IV49
Print publication date: 01/11/2021
Online publication date: 09/11/2021
Acceptance date: 02/04/2018
ISSN (print): 1101-1262
ISSN (electronic): 1464-360X
Publisher: Oxford University Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckab159
DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckab159
PubMed id: 34751369
