Shadow work

{{Short description|Unpaid labor as a complement of industrial labour and services}}

{{About|the element of unpaid labor|other uses|Shadow Work (disambiguation)}}

{{About|the economics term|the concept in psychology|Shadow (psychology)}}

File:Pumping gas.jpgs to dispense fuel in many countries, fuel companies can increasingly expect self-service as the norm.{{cite news|title=Old-style gas jockey still pumpin' strong |url=http://www2.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/sports/story.html?id=abf9f7b5-40b3-4899-be85-ef4327213ac6|publisher=The Ottawa Citizen|date=2006-06-05|author=Dave Brown}}]]

In economics, shadow work is a kind of unpaid labor performed by the consumer. It includes assembling of goods that come "in pieces", self-checkout at super markets, and self-service at gas stations. Tasks that are necessary for completing a purchase that have been left to the consumers as a way of rationalising production and distribution.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

This contrasts with unpaid labor done for self subsistence or to give to others, encompassing all tasks individuals do without compensation, such as building a house, writing and publishing free computer programs or care work.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

The term 'shadow work' was coined by Ivan Illich, in his 1980 article Illich, Ivan. Shadow - Work Philosophica 26,1980 (2), Pp. 7-46. and in his 1981 bookIllich, Ivan. Shadow Work. Salem, New Hampshire and London: Marion Boyars, 1981. of the same title.{{cite news |author=Craig Lambert |title=Our Unpaid, Extra Shadow Work |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/opinion/sunday/our-unpaid-extra-shadow-work.html?ref=opinion |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 29, 2011 |accessdate=2011-10-25 }}

Craig Lambert, a former editor of Harvard Magazine wrote about the new trend towards unpaid "shadow work" in 2011 and followed up his research in a book called Shadow Work: The Unpaid, Unseen Jobs That Fill Your Day in 2015. In it, he itemizes many of the unpaid tasks ordinary people do now that others used to do, such as pumping gasoline, bagging groceries, making travel arrangements, and checking in baggage at airports. He includes the rise of technology and robotics as forces leading to the growth of shadow work, and also includes such factors as crowdsourcing and parental over-engagement in their children's lives. He argues that shifting tasks to consumers takes away from their time and reduces the amount of casual social interaction in people's lives. It also limits the number of opportunities for low-skilled entry-level work (such as pumping gas).{{cite news|last1=Liebetrau|first1=Eric|title=Book Review: 'Shadow Work' by Craig Lambert|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2015/05/21/book-review-shadow-work-the-unpaid-unseen-jobs-that-fill-your-day-craig-lambert/Ea1MPA9o0CujES4gCOMmzK/story.html|accessdate=3 November 2015|work=Boston Globe|publisher=Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC|date=May 21, 2015}}