A new economic class is arising in developed nations, referred to as the precariat. This term fuses “precarious” and “proletariat” and describes a rapidly growing number of people facing highly unstable living and employment due to the ascendancy of neoliberal economic policies over recent decades. According to Standing (2011) and (2014), the precariat is made up of individuals who lack the labor protections and security that defined the post-war period, including job security, steady incomes, and access to quality skill training. Various factors have catalyzed the growth of this group, most notably the shift toward privatization, deregulation, austerity, and pressures to make labor markets more “adaptable.” Standing (2014) further identifies that these policies have dismantled the standard 20th-century model of full-time, stable jobs with benefits. Again, the precariat is not in promising positions within society due to insecure contract work—temporary, part-time, informal gig positions, and unpaid internships. With the decline of unions, labor protections, and the welfare state safety net, workers have lost bargaining power. Incomes have stagnated for many, even as inequality expands. The promise of education leading to upward mobility is also fading as degrees and credentials quickly lose value.
Furthermore, the rise of information and communication technologies over recent decades has also greatly enabled the growth of precarious work arrangements. For instance, the advancement of online platforms and digital infrastructure now allows companies to more easily offshore and outsource job duties on a huge global scale. Spencer and Langer (2014) argue that the rise of information and communication technologies has permitted workers from different countries to compete in a worldwide virtual labor market for freelance assignments and projects, depressing incomes and job stability. In addition, Spencer and Langer (2014) identify the automation of routine white-collar administrative roles through AI and software as a factor displacing many mid-level office jobs. According to Spencer and Langer (2014), highly skilled experts like programmers now face competition from overseas coders due to the rise in information and communication technologies. Thus, the cumulative impacts of rising information and communication technologies are significant levels of job insecurity and downward wage pressures, expanding the precariat globally.
Additionally, the commercialization and defunding of education under the neoliberal framework have saddled youth with crippling debt burdens while eroding higher education’s role as an engine of upward social mobility. Standing agrees that severe cuts to public funding of universities and the unchecked growth of expensive for-profit colleges have dramatically increased tuition costs across the board and left students carrying unprecedented loan debt (TEDx Talks, 2017). Once widely seen as a guaranteed pathway to a better life and career, college is now prohibitively expensive and out of reach for many, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds (Standing, 2014; 2011). Even for those who take on massive debts to attend college, degrees no longer guarantee stable, well-paying, and fulfilling employment upon graduation. Standing (2011) highlights that the overall value of education has been critically degraded as university curricula are increasingly tailored to serve corporate interests and skills-based job training rather than fostering critical thinking and human enrichment. Sadly, even graduates holding degrees from elite institutions often face a precarious and uncertain future filled with chronic underemployment, low-paid, insecure contract work, unpaid internships, and periods of unemployment (TEDx Talks, 2017). The college degree, once a shining symbol of status, knowledge, and middle-class security, has lost much of its power, leaving generations of young people in debt and disenchanted.
Educational attainment unfortunately no longer provides the strong economic security and assurance of upward mobility that it once did. With education increasingly treated as a private consumer good rather than a public societal investment, inequality has become further entrenched and exacerbated. Spencer and Langer (2014) posit that students from disadvantaged and low-income backgrounds now must take on crushingly massive levels of debt just for a chance at attending college and earning a degree that offers greatly diminishing returns. According to Standing (2014; 2011), these massive debts burden members of the precariat class with obligations that handicap their financial future even before entering the unstable job market, where costly credentials now provide little meaningful protection from perpetual uncertainty and volatility. Fundamentally, reversing the commercialization of education and restoring its public purpose will be vital for opening up opportunities and security for all (Standing, 2011; 2014). Making public colleges and universities tuition-free, forgiving some portion of current student debt burdens, and reorienting curricula away from narrow corporate-friendly models could help reestablish affordable higher education as a driver of socioeconomic mobility once again. Standing proposes that an enriching educational experience offered at a low cost would provide today’s precariat with a fighting chance at a stable financial future and middle-class aspirations (TEDx Talks, 2017). Reviving education’s promise as an engine of inclusion could help mitigate some of the most punitive precarity traps.
The rise of the precariat highlights the pressing need to reform neoliberal capitalism to better provide economic security and opportunity for all. While the future of this emerging group remains uncertain, their expansion signals deep flaws in the current system. According to Standing (2014), fundamental political and economic changes are required to restore stability and shared prosperity. Spencer and Langer (2014) add that education, labor rights, and public programs must be reoriented around empowering citizens rather than serving elite interests. With solidarity and vision, the precariat could help shape a more equitable post-neoliberal order. However, without systemic change, their growth portends further inequality and turbulence, as mentioned by Standing in the TEDx Talks (2017). Heeding the plight of the precariat through progressive reforms can steer society toward greater inclusion and resilience. By recommitting to shared prosperity, we can forge an economy that leaves no one behind.
References
Standing, G. (2011). The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class (p. 208). Bloomsbury Academic.
Standing, G. (2014). A Precariat Charter: From Denizens to Citizens (p. 320). Bloomsbury Academic.
Spencer, B., and Langer, E. (2014). The Purpose of Adult Education: An Introduction. (Reading: Ch. 7. Canadian Adult Education in a Global Context)
TEDx Talks (2017). What is the Precariat-Guy Standing (TEDxPrague) [YouTube] Accessed February 8, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnYhZCUYOxs
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