Tyler Woods, Kristen Harknett, Daniel Schneider
Sociological Science July 2, 2026
10.15195/v13.a30
Abstract
For most adults in the United States, participation in the labor force is a normative expectation and a pre-requisite for social acceptance and inclusion. Yet, the conditions of low-wage work can breed social isolation by interfering with supportive social ties at and outside of work. Drawing on survey data from The Shift Project, we examine the complex interplay between precarious working conditions and supportive social ties and illuminate a vicious cycle faced by low-wage workers. Precarious work schedule conditions are associated with reduced perceptions of support from social ties and act as a mechanism through which precarious working conditions take a toll on worker well-being. Further, those with precarious work schedules are less likely to benefit from the buffering effect of social support that attenuates the negative consequences of unstable and unpredictable schedules on well-being. Our findings demonstrate negative externalities of precarious working conditions for social support and reveal the double bind of precarious work: schedule instability undermines workers’ social support while simultaneously heightening the need for it.
For most adults in the United States, participation in the labor force is a normative expectation and a pre-requisite for social acceptance and inclusion. Yet, the conditions of low-wage work can breed social isolation by interfering with supportive social ties at and outside of work. Drawing on survey data from The Shift Project, we examine the complex interplay between precarious working conditions and supportive social ties and illuminate a vicious cycle faced by low-wage workers. Precarious work schedule conditions are associated with reduced perceptions of support from social ties and act as a mechanism through which precarious working conditions take a toll on worker well-being. Further, those with precarious work schedules are less likely to benefit from the buffering effect of social support that attenuates the negative consequences of unstable and unpredictable schedules on well-being. Our findings demonstrate negative externalities of precarious working conditions for social support and reveal the double bind of precarious work: schedule instability undermines workers’ social support while simultaneously heightening the need for it.
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Supplemental Materials
Reproducibility Package: Information on accessing the administrative register data and all code used in the analysis is available at: https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/
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- Citation: Woods, Tyler, Kristen Harknett, and Daniel Schneider. 2026. “The Double Bind of Precarious Work: Creating Need and Undermining Support” Sociological Science 13: 772-801.
- Received: January 5, 2026
- Accepted: April 28, 2026
- Editors: Stephen Vaisey, Michael Rosenfeld
- DOI: 10.15195/v13.a30