TY - JOUR
T1 - Employment Quality and Mental and Self-Reported Health Inequities among Latinx Housecleaners
T2 - The Safe and Just Cleaners Study
AU - Baron, Sherry
AU - Cuervo, Isabel
AU - Winkel, Gary
AU - Flores, Deysi
AU - Gonzalez, Ana
AU - Harari, Homero
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors.
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Precarious employment, such as housecleaning, is one important structural contributor to health inequities. We used an employment quality (EQ) framework to characterize the impact of employment conditions on mental and self-reported ill-health among Latinx housecleaners in the New York City metropolitan area. Using a community-based participatory research approach, we collected cross-sectional survey data from 402 housecleaners between August 2019 and February 2020 to characterize housecleaners’ EQ and its association with depression, perceived stress, and self-reported health. We also measured work-related irritant eye, skin, and respiratory symptoms, which have been shown in previous research to be associated with housecleaners’ exposure to chemical components of cleaning products. Our housecleaner cohort was largely female and immigrant and most had worked at least five years. Survey items capturing the EQ dimensions of unbalanced interpersonal relations, low material resources, and violations of workers’ rights were associated with increased odds of depression, perceived stress, and self-reported ill-health. Work-related irritant eye, skin, and respiratory symptoms were also independently associated with mental and self-reported ill-health and some of the effects of EQ on health were potentially partially mediated through their association with work-related irritant symptoms. Findings can inform directions for community-based educational and policy initiatives to improve housecleaners’ employment quality.
AB - Precarious employment, such as housecleaning, is one important structural contributor to health inequities. We used an employment quality (EQ) framework to characterize the impact of employment conditions on mental and self-reported ill-health among Latinx housecleaners in the New York City metropolitan area. Using a community-based participatory research approach, we collected cross-sectional survey data from 402 housecleaners between August 2019 and February 2020 to characterize housecleaners’ EQ and its association with depression, perceived stress, and self-reported health. We also measured work-related irritant eye, skin, and respiratory symptoms, which have been shown in previous research to be associated with housecleaners’ exposure to chemical components of cleaning products. Our housecleaner cohort was largely female and immigrant and most had worked at least five years. Survey items capturing the EQ dimensions of unbalanced interpersonal relations, low material resources, and violations of workers’ rights were associated with increased odds of depression, perceived stress, and self-reported ill-health. Work-related irritant eye, skin, and respiratory symptoms were also independently associated with mental and self-reported ill-health and some of the effects of EQ on health were potentially partially mediated through their association with work-related irritant symptoms. Findings can inform directions for community-based educational and policy initiatives to improve housecleaners’ employment quality.
KW - community-based participatory research
KW - employment quality
KW - health inequities
KW - housecleaners
KW - mental health
KW - precarious employment
KW - workplace hazards
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85143736824&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph192315973
DO - 10.3390/ijerph192315973
M3 - Article
C2 - 36498045
AN - SCOPUS:85143736824
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 19
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 23
M1 - 15973
ER -