Dear Colleagues,

An increasingly competitive globalized capitalism has coupled with both accelerating technological change and a series of progressively “hardening” socio-political-economic factors to produce growing inequality in contemporary labor markets. The ongoing erosion of public policies devoted to social welfare and the redistribution of wealth have fed into extant structural contingencies to create a more stratified system that limits access to opportunity structures for disadvantaged groups, beginning in early childhood. These factors have created a virtuous circle whereby inequities in education, training, and social capital accumulate throughout the life course to exacerbate the social patterning of human capital and, in turn, structural inequalities in the labor market. The expansion of elite, human-capital-intensive jobs such as those in technology, finance, and management has increased labor-share among workers with the highest levels of training and skill, while workers employed in mid- and lower-tier sectors of the economy are exposed to under-employment via reduced work hours and wages. At the individual level, we know that precarious work, poor working conditions, and the psychic burden of low social position at work are associated with adverse health outcomes. More broadly, the population health consequences of labor market and wealth inequality are associated with not just an increased burden of disease, but also, critically, a gradual decline in social cohesion, civic behaviors, and the broad societal commitment to mores that support democratic institutions. The focus of this Special Issue is on exploring the full range of implications and consequences of rising labor market inequality for public health, and to provide strategic recommendations for mitigating structural disadvantage through healthy public policy.

Contributions must follow one of the three categories of papers (article, conceptual paper, or review) for the journal and address the topic of the Special Issue.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Heather Scott-Marshall
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• labor market inequality
• social stratification
• precarious work
• structural disadvantage across the life course
• social patterning of health outcomes
• health protection through public policy