A major new Canadian study has put numbers to something workers in low-wage, unstable jobs have long felt — poor-quality work is bad for your health, and can cut your life short.
Researchers at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) linked job quality data from 2.8 million Canadian working adults who completed the 2006 census with 13 years of death records, from 2006 to 2019. They found a clear, graded pattern: as job quality decreased, death rates increased. Workers in the lowest quality, most precarious jobs were far more likely to die over the study period than those in secure, better-paid jobs.
Compared with workers in standard jobs:
- women in precarious jobs faced a 50% higher risk of death
- men a 60% higher risk
- both were roughly twice as likely to die from an unintentional injury.
This research reinforces what we hear every day from workers: work is a powerful determinant of health — and not all jobs are created equal.
However, this specific research goes beyond previous studies that largely only differentiated between “standard” and “precarious” work, and self-reported symptoms, thus revealing “important nuances.”
Five kinds of jobs, five different risks
Instead of treating work as either “standard” (full-time, permanent) or “precarious,” the researchers created five categories of job quality using three factors: hours, stability (weeks worked in the last year) and pay. The five types were:
- Standard: stable jobs, full-time hours, high earnings
- Portfolio: stable jobs, long hours, highest earnings
- Marginal: mostly stable, limited hours, low earnings
- Intermittent: unstable or seasonal work, full-time hours, moderate earnings
- Precarious: unstable work, mostly part-time, lowest earnings.
They then looked at how many people in each job type died during the 13-year follow-up.
The pattern was stark and consistent:
- Workers in standard and portfolio jobs had the lowest death rates.
- Workers in marginal and intermittent jobs had higher death rates — roughly in the middle of the spectrum.
- Workers in precarious jobs had the highest death rates of all.
Workers in marginal and intermittent jobs also faced elevated risks: about 25% higher for women and 40% higher for men. In other words, it’s not just the worst jobs that are harmful. Jobs “in between” — unstable or underpaid work — also take a toll.
Not just “how long you live” – but how you die
The study didn’t stop at overall deaths. It also examined deaths from specific causes: cancer, cardiovascular disease (like heart attacks and strokes) and unintentional injuries.
Here, too, job quality mattered:
- The same gradient appeared: worse jobs, higher death rates.
- The link between job quality and unintentional injury was especially strong. Women and men in precarious jobs were about twice as likely to die from an unintentional injury as those in standard jobs.
That last finding should ring loud alarm bells for anyone concerned with occupational health and safety.
When you combine dangerous conditions with unstable hours, low pay and high stress, the risk of fatal injury climbs. This research pointed to another important nuance: people in portfolio jobs —stable but very long-hours, higher-paid work — showed higher rates of cardiovascular deaths among women and higher unintentional injury deaths among both women and men. High earnings do not fully protect workers when the demands of work are excessive.
With respect to cancer and cardiovascular disease, however, the researchers observed, these negative health outcomes could be much higher. But given the data did not follow people over time, and the often long latency factor for disease to manifest, it was impossible to fully appreciate these potential outcomes.
Who is most affected? Gender and age matter
The study found that men had higher death rates than women overall, and that the gaps between good and bad jobs were often larger for men. This reflects not only biological differences, but also gendered expectations, the types of jobs men and women tend to hold, and differences in exposure to physical and psychosocial hazards.
Age mattered too. In some cases, job quality was an even stronger predictor of death among younger workers (18–44) than older workers (45–64). For example, younger women and men in precarious jobs had 60% and 83% higher death risks, respectively, compared to younger workers in standard jobs. For older workers, the increased risk was still substantial — 47% for women and 52% for men — but somewhat smaller.
That means precarious, low-quality jobs can start shaping health and survival much earlier in working life than many people assume.
What this means for prevention and policy
This research has clear implications for public health, labour policy and front-line health and safety practice.
First, it confirms that job quality is a major social determinant of health. Secure, stable, decently paid employment supports longer, healthier lives. Insecure, low-paid, unstable employment does the opposite.
Second, as the researchers also observe, it shows that we need to move beyond a simple “good job vs. bad job” story. Many workers sit in the middle — in marginal or intermittent jobs — with real health impacts that can be overlooked if we only focus on the most extreme cases of precarity.
Third, it underlines the need to protect workers in low-quality and precarious jobs through stronger rights, robust enforcement and effective training. When workers understand their legal rights, can recognize hazards, and feel supported to exercise those rights without fear, they are better able to push back against unsafe conditions — even in sectors where precarious work is common.
Training for what matters most
This new evidence is another reminder too that health and safety is about much more than individual behaviour. It’s about power, structure and the quality of work itself. When we advocate for better jobs, and healthier and safer work, we are also advocating for longer, healthier lives for workers and their families.
As Ontario’s official health and safety training centre, we at Workers Health & Safety Centre (WHSC) work to support this advocacy with instructor-led, scheduled and onsite, in person and virtual classroom training. Be sure and check out our complete
catalogue of training.
WHSC also offers a wide range
First Aid training courses. To help workplaces meet requirements for this life-saving training, scheduled and onsite
First Aid training is available at a 30 per cent discount when booked before December 19.
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