Accidental flexicurity or workfare? Navigating ride-share work and Australia’s welfare system

Abstract

This mixed-methods study explores the intersection of the ‘gig’ economy and welfare state in Australia, exploring how ride-share work has provided a pathway into paid work for three traditionally disadvantaged groups: individuals with disability, with caring responsibilities, or aged 45 and over. It examines these workers’ motivations for the work and explores how the welfare system shapes their experiences. The study finds push factors, such as past labour market discrimination and limited alternatives, and pull factors, like the relative flexibility of the work, which allows for the accommodation of planned and unplanned absences, are driving individuals into the ‘gig’ economy. The authors identify a duality about these experiences. On the one hand, the work represents a de facto form of ‘workfare’. On the other, the welfare system is cushioning the work’s job and income insecurity, providing individuals with flexibility and security unavailable elsewhere, an unintended policy outcome the authors label ‘accidental flexicurity’.