The number of people in insecure work has reached a record high of 4.1 million, according to analysis published today.
TUC analysis of official statistics shows the number of people in precarious employment – such as zero-hours contracts, low-paid self-employment and casual or seasonal work – has increased by nearly 986,000 between 2011 and 2023.
The number of people in insecure work rose nearly three times faster (31%) than secure forms of employment over that period (11%).
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The trades union body estimates that one in eight workers in the UK are now employed in precarious employment. In some parts of the country, such as the West Midlands and the South West, the number is one in seven.
The growth in insecure work since 2011 has been fuelled mainly by lower-paid sectors of the economy, said the TUC.
In care, leisure, service and elementary occupations the number of people in precarious employment grew by over 600,000, up 70%, since 2011.
The analysis also shows that people in insecure work face a severe pay penalty compared to other workers. People on zero-hours contracts earn 35% less per hour, on average, than workers on median pay.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “We need a government that will make work pay. But over the last 14 years, we have seen an explosion in insecure, low-paid work. The UK’s long experiment with a low-rights, low-wage economy has been terrible for growth, productivity and living standards.
“Real wages are still worth less than in 2008, and across the country people are trapped in jobs that offer little or no security.”
In February, data from the Work Foundation at Lancaster University revealed that 6.8 million people – 21.4% of the active labour market – working in the UK in 2023 were in highly unstable employment, meaning they face low pay, unpredictable hours and are vulnerable to job losses due to a lack of employment rights and protections.
The TUC added that the Labour Party’s New Deal for Working People would be a “game changer” if delivered in full – with the biggest upgrade in workers’ rights in a generation.
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