“Bad jobs”: a case study of toilet attendants

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge of precarious and low-quality jobs with the study of toilet attendants, an ideal typical case of low-wage manual service workers who are excluded from secure wages, decent working conditions, and employment protection. Design/methodology/approach An extensive survey with standardized questionnaires (n=107) and in-depth interviews (n=10) of toilet attendants in Belgian towns, mostly Brussels and Ghent. Results are compared to the work quality of low-skilled workers, and the within-group position of necessity workers is analysed. Findings Toilet attendants definitely occupy “bad jobs”, measured by the higher prevalence of informal and false self-employed statuses, more intense work-life conflicts and verbal aggression from clients, and a lower job satisfaction. In all these respects, they perform worse than other low-skilled workers. Concurrently, there is a strong within-group divide between necessity workers and those who see the job as an opportunity. Despite a similar job content, necessity workers less often earn a decent wage, suffer more from customer aggression, lack social support and pleasure from work. Mechanisms related to self-selection and the absence of intrinsic rewards explain these in-group differences. Originality/value This contribution indicates, first, that job insecurity spills over into poor working conditions, work-life conflicts, and customer aggression. Furthermore, it documents that jobs are not necessarily bad in themselves, but become problematic when taken up by people with too few choices and too pressing socio-economic needs. Problems of sub-standard jobs are not merely job problems but problems of workers in a certain position.

Water, sanitation, and women’s empowerment: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis

“…Harassment. General harassment, including taunting, teasing, name calling, and throwing things at women or girls is more frequently observed in sanitation [138,168,174,175,181,187,190,263] than water research [168,199] Sexual harassment, including verbal harassment, peeping, flashing, and male masturbation is also more frequently documented in sanitation [171-174, 189, 190, 214, 217, 226, 231, 233] than water research [144,214,231,259]. Women doing manual scavenging reported verbal abuse [138].…”

Water, Sanitation, and Women’s Empowerment: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis

“…(n = 34) Adrianessens 2019; 249 Azeez 2019; 114 Caruso 2017a; 224 Corburn 2015; 225 Corburn 2016; 226 ; Czerniewska 2019; 117 Hirai 2016; 120 Joshi 2018; 159 Khanna 2016; 121 Kulkarni 2017; 160 Kwiringira 2014; 172 Lee 2017; 122 Mohankumar 2017; 124 Oluyemo 2012; 56 O'Reilly 2010; 48 O'Reilly 2014; 140 Pardeshi 2009; 125 Prasad 2015; 282 Prasad 2018; 283 Rajaraman 2013*; 236 Reddy 2011; 212 Reddy 2019; 213 Routray 2017b; 110 Halvorson 2004; 104 Harris 2017; 82 Ilahi 2000; 281 Irianti 2019; 288 James 2002; 53 Joshi 2012; 203 Karim 2012; 246 Kher 2015; 230 Krumdieck 2016; 188 Lebel 2015; 83 Leder 2017; 45 MacRae 2019*; 164 Makoni 2004; 106 Mandara 2013; 84 Mason 2012; 86 Mbatha 2011; 206 McMahon 2011*; 207 Mehretu 1992; 263 Mehta 2015; 87 Mushavi 2020; 151 Narain 2014; 265 Nerkar 2013; 152 Oluyemo 2012; 56 Padmaja 2020; 89 Pommells 2018;…”

“…General harassment, including taunting, teasing, name calling, and throwing things at women or girls is more frequently observed in sanitation 124,154,160,161,167,173,176,249 than water research. 154,185 Sexual harassment, including verbal harassment, peeping, flashing, and male masturbation is also more frequently documented in sanitation [157][158][159][160]175,176,200,203,212,217,219 than water research.…”

“…Specifically, women have engaged in water vending, 75 meter reading and water tank cleaning, 42 water management, 29,107 water filter and toilet pan selling, 52 and rainwater harvesting container construction. 107,147 They have also engaged in water-dependent income-generating activities, like horticulture or pottery-making, 45,192,247 or sanitation-related activities, like toilet cleaning, 203 latrine construction, 107 serving as toilet attendants, 249 or doing scavenging work. 124,127,283 Finally, water and sanitation improvements have freed up time for other income-generating activities.…”

“…121,129,154,168,176,214,224 Additionally, women in Kenya reported quarrels over contributions toward sanitation activities and maintenance of shared toilets, 156 and female toilet attendants in Europe reported poor treatment by patrons who refused payment. 249 Relations influenced sanitation-related school experiences; girls reported bullying from boys if they were known to have defecated in the school toilet (Sweden 209 ) and if boys knew girls were menstruating because of which toilets they used (India 233 ).…”