What does precariat mean?
The precariat refers to people whose economic position is precarious: they may have little job security, unpredictable income, unstable housing, or limited access to healthcare, pensions, and other protections. Unlike a conventional description of poverty based only on low income, the concept emphasizes insecurity and instability as central features of social life. It includes workers on zero-hour contracts, temporary assignments, gig platforms, casual employment, and other arrangements that leave people vulnerable to sudden changes in work or circumstances. The term can describe either an individual person or a broad social group. It is especially common in discussions of contemporary labour markets and growing inequality. Though closely related to the idea of the proletariat, the precariat is not limited to industrial wage labourers; it focuses more precisely on the widespread expansion of insecure work and life conditions.
nounA person who lacks secure employment, stable income, or reliable access to basic services, and therefore lives in a condition of economic and social precarity. The term can also refer collectively to this broad social group.
- A person living without secure employment, income, housing, or social protection.
- A broad social group formed by people in such economically precarious circumstances.
"Millions of workers on zero-hour contracts and other insecure arrangements form a growing precariat."
"The charity supports members of the precariat who are unable to afford essential housing costs."
"A growing precariat of platform workers faces unpredictable schedules and limited employment protections."
"The study examines the precariat's growing influence on housing, health, and political participation."
The plural is used for multiple individuals and, more commonly in social commentary, for the class as a collective.
"Precariats often lack predictable schedules, paid leave, and access to unemployment protection."
The precariat is a class defined not simply by low pay, but by the absence of a secure future: unpredictable hours, unstable housing, and benefits that may disappear from one month to the next.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of precariat
The word comes through French from the Latin noun precariat, which was formed from precarius, meaning uncertain, precarious, or dependent on chance. The modern social-class sense was developed in the 1990s, notably by French sociologist Pierre-André Tapie, and was popularized in the early twenty-first century by British labour sociologist Guy Standing. Its connection with precarious and precarity reflects the same Latin root.
Related word forms
How precariat is actually used
The term is mainly used in social and economic commentary. It is related to, but not identical with, the older term proletariat, and is often associated with gig work, zero-hour contracts, temporary employment, and other forms of insecure work.
Easily confused with precariat
The proletariat is traditionally defined by its relationship to the means of production and wage labour, whereas the precariat is defined more broadly by insecure employment and living conditions, including many service workers and people outside conventional industrial employment.