One in four UK jobs are ‘bad jobs’, with women more likely than men to be in poor-quality employment, according to an economist.
In a public lecture taking place at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) today (9 November), Professor Kirsten Sehnbruch will argue that there is not enough focus on traditional measures of labour market performance, such as unemployment rates and wage growth, and will urge the government to look at how many workers are in poor-quality employment.
She will say that the types of jobs being created needs more consideration, and that policymakers need to focus their efforts on improving conditions for the most vulnerable workers, for example those on unstable or unpredictable contracts, or those working multiple jobs.
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Data collection to measure the quality of employment; social dialogue mechanisms to discuss employment policy and regulation; and consideration of broader policy implications of poor-quality employment in the context of the UK’s socioeconomic development, will all need to improve, she will argue.
She will define a “bad job” as one that deprives a worker in one or more key aspects of their employment conditions: low earnings, unstable employment (such as zero-hours, temporary or agency contracts), or other poor employment conditions such as working too many or too few hours.
Sehnbruch, who is a professor at LSE’s International Inequalities Institute, will say: “Labour markets are the foundation of our economy, society and welfare states. Yet as we approach a general election, and off the back of party conferences, none of the major parties are considering the broader implications of poor-quality employment. Those in power must take action to improve the quality of the UK’s jobs, starting with measuring how many workers in the UK are in poor-quality employment.
“We only need to look at the labour markets of countries that are less developed than the UK to know how poor-quality employment can undermine the social contract.”
The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 recently received Royal Assent, and when enacted will give workers on atypical contracts the right to request more stable working hours.
Sehnbruch will present research findings that show:
- a quarter of jobs in the UK could be deemed poor-quality
- 30% of women have a so-called bad job, compared with 23% of men
- 30% of non-unionised workers are in poor-quality employment, compared with 12% of unionised employees
- migrant workers make up a large proportion of the gig-economy, and are more likely to work long hours.
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