Gendered Experience and Safety Challenges Among Women Gig Workers

Abstract

The gig economy is becoming a major source of income for women, offering the flexibility of employment in various sectors like home services, deliveries, and ride-hailing. However, even though it is a flexible arrangement, gig work leads women into gendered experiences and safety issues that are hard to avoid, such as discrimination, emotional labour, and work-life conflict. The research aims to reveal the correlation between the gendered experiences and safety outcomes of women gig workers in India, using a sample size of 280 participants. To validate the constructs, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were conducted as preliminary methods, then Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesized relationships. The results indicate that the gendered experiences are the main reason for the significantly increased safety challenges, where emotional labour mediates and work-life conflict moderates. The necessity of platform interventions and policy reforms to ensure the safety of women participating in the gig economy is pointed out by the study.