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Cited by 34Employment and Welfare StudiesWorkplace Health and Well-beingMental Health Treatment and Access

Depressive Symptoms among Chinese Informal Employees in the Digital Era

Open access
Cai, Yang, Kong, Weiwei, Lian, Yongsheng, Jin, Xiangxin·2021·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
DOI 10.3390/ijerph18105211PMC PMC8156780
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Abstract

The mental health status of informal employees is rarely studied in China. Nowadays, new economic forms such as gig economy and platform economy are emerging with the rapid development of information and communication technology, which has brought great changes to the labor market, especially to the informal employment field. Thus, it is of great significance to investigate the depressive symptoms among informal employees in the digital era. Based on the cross-sectional data of CFPS (China Family Panel Studies, 2018), this study takes a quantitative analysis framework to explore and analyze the association between informal employment and depressive symptoms in the Chinese labor market. After screening, a data set of 8893 employees (60.5% male and 39.5% female) was established. Several statistical methods, including the Mann–Whitney test and probit regression model, were used in the sample data analysis. The results show that the prevalence of depressive symptoms among informal employees is significantly higher than that among formal employees. Depressive symptoms are highly related to informal work and other factors, such as education, physical health, household income, etc. The impact of Internet use on informal employees’ depressive symptoms is not significant. The mental health inequality between formal and informal employees still exists in the digital era, and corresponding labor market regulations and social policies should be perfected to address this issue.

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  • Workers without formal employment relationships have higher levels of depression than those with formal employment relationships.

    “Using data from a national survey in China, Cai et al. (2021) found higher levels of depression in workers without formal employment relationships than those with formal employment relationships.”

    From Gig work and gig workers: An integrative review and agenda for future research (2024) · cites this paper as Cai et al. (2021)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Cai, Y., Kong, W., Lian, Y., & Jin, X.
Affiliations
Harbin University of Commerce (CN)
Corresponding author
Kong, Weiwei
ORCID
Cai, Yang
Venue
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2021-05-14
Volume
18
Issue
10
Pages
5211
ISSN
1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3390/ijerph18105211
PMC
PMC8156780
OpenAlex
W3160290531
Cited by
34
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4
FWCI
6.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Social Science Foundation of China (14BJY032)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Employment and Welfare Studies
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
Keywords
depressive symptoms, informal employment, gig economy, platform economy, mental health disparities, digital era, internet use, labor market, China, household income, physical health
MeSH terms
China, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depression, Employment, Female, Humans, Male, Health Status Disparities

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