Examining Gendered Precarity in the Gig Economy – a Systematic Review

The gig economy promises to liberate women through offering flexible tasks to lessen family-work conflicts. Yet, the literature depicts a story of income insecurity and gig work clashing with women’s family duties. A systematic review is therefore conducted using studies ( n = 24) retrieved from five social science databases, and gendered precarious factors are identified using a categorical framework developed in the literature review. The review summarized a 17-item checklist of gendered precarious factors in gig platforms under five categories: gendered norms, roles and activities, gendered workplace segregation, patriarchal nature of the operation, gendered remuneration, and vulnerability to harassment and physical assault or injuries. We argue that female taskers are subject to AI-tocracy, an inability to benefit from the knowledge economy, and to affective labor consumption in the men-dominated gig economy. Finally, the review recommends more research on women’s situation in the gig economy in the Global South, with a longitudinal design and the adoption of gendered precarity as a holistic theoretical lens.