Precarious employment as a central axis of emerging adulthood among young working-class Palestinian women in Israel

This study presents findings from qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) conducted among young working-class Palestinian women citizens of Israel who were interviewed as high school students working in precarious employment and again five years later as they entered emerging adulthood. The study examined precarious employment during high school as a central axis that shapes the features of emerging adulthood over time among young working-class Palestinian women, within the dynamic between culture (traditional expectations) and education (self-realization). QLR makes it possible to examine the structures of barriers and resources at the intersection of gender, class, and ethnonationality over time. Employing the theoretical frameworks of vulnerability and precarity reveals that the features of emerging adulthood are anchored in economic, political, and cultural structures. Reliance on precarious employment and exploitative work environments during adolescence has far-reaching consequences throughout emerging adulthood. Young women are in a state of perpetual responsibility, doubly tasked with escaping poverty and pursuing higher education.