More than half a million additional people moved into ‘severely insecure work’ in the UK last year, according to new analysis from an employment think tank.
Data from the Work Foundation at Lancaster University reveals 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.
Researchers say severely insecure work heightens workers’ financial vulnerability, leaving them on average more than £3,000 per year worse off than those in secure jobs.
The Work Foundation’s UK Insecure Work Index 2024 looks at the prevalence of insecurity felt by workers in the UK, with a particular focus on employment contracts, personal finances and workers’ rights.
Its analysis shows that the number of people in severely insecure work has risen by 500,000 in the UK since Spring 2022, at the same time as secure employment has declined, with 560,000 fewer workers in secure jobs over the same period.
The data also suggests insecure employment is a far bigger risk to some worker groups, particularly based on gender, disability, ethnicity and age.
Almost two-thirds (60%) of those who moved into severely insecure work in 2023 were women, meaning they are now 2.3 times more likely to experience severely insecure work than men.
A record 1.45 million disabled workers are in severely insecure work. In 2023, the rate of severely insecure work went up by 1.2 percentage points among disabled workers, from 26.6% to 27.8%. Among non-disabled workers, the rate went up by 1.5 percentage points, from 18.6% to 20.1%
More black African and black Caribbean workers fell into severely insecure work than white British workers and other ethnic minorities in 2023. Among white British workers, the rate of insecure work went up by 1.5 percentage points over the year, from 19% to 20.5%, while among black African and black Caribbean workers, this went up by 2.2 percentage points to 28.6% in 2023.
Young workers are now more than twice as likely than older workers aged 50-65 to be in severely insecure work. Almost half (46.6%) of workers aged 16-24 experienced severely insecure work (up from 43.2% in 2022), compared to 20.9% of 50 to 65-year-olds (up from 18.9%).
Spikes in insecure work have mostly been seen in the wholesale and retail sectors, along with the professional and scientific sectors, and hospitality, according to the analysis.
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Ben Harrison, director of the Work Foundation, said: “People in severely insecure work not only face the stress of unpredictable hours and lack fundamental employment protections, they also risk being stuck in low pay – and are therefore particularly vulnerable to persistently high inflation.
“Our research suggests many end up in insecure work because they’re forced to trade security for flexibility in order to manage childcare, long-term health conditions or other commitments.”
The Work Foundation also highlighted the government’s ‘Back to Work’ agenda and the spectre of tougher welfare sanctions as factors that could contribute to a further rise in workers in severely insecure jobs in the year ahead.
“A record 2.8 million people are economically inactive due to long-term health conditions,” added Harrison. “While additional support from government to help more of these people who want to work into jobs is welcome, simultaneously increasing the threat of welfare sanctions to push them into ‘any job’ is likely to be counter-productive.
“Insecure jobs can exacerbate underlying health conditions, force people to bounce in and out of employment and lead to a continuing reliance on universal credit. We urgently need a stronger focus on improving access to good quality jobs that will allow more people to sustain employment over the long term.”
The Work Foundation defines work as “severely insecure” where two or more heavily weighted forms of insecure work come together, or where people are in part-time or temporary work while they want to work full-time or in a permanent role.
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