The number of young people on zero-hours contracts has reached record levels in the UK, according to new analysis from the Work Foundation at Lancaster University.
It found that 136,000 more workers were given zero-hours contracts in 2023 compared to 2022, and 65% of these went to 16 to 24-year-olds.
Almost three-quarters of all workers on zero-hours contracts are in what the foundation describes as “severely insecure work”, meaning they face contractual and financial insecurity and cannot access workers’ rights and protections.
Only 6.1% of the 1.1 million on zero-hours contracts are in secure work, it found, meaning they have access to rights and a regular income.
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The Work Foundation also revealed that certain groups were more likely to be on zero-hours contracts, including Black workers (2.7 times more likely) and workers from multiple/mixed ethnic backgrounds (2.3 times more likely).
Women were also more likely to be working on this sort of arrangement, 1.2 times more likely than men.
A tenth of workers between the ages of 16 and 24 are on zero-hours contracts, and this is not just students working around their courses. Researchers found that young workers who are not students are 3.5 times more likely than any other age group to be on a zero-hours contract.
Alice Martin, head of research at the Work Foundation, said: “Zero-hours contracts have previously been hailed as the answer to flexible work, but our research shows too often it is only employers that have choices, workers do not.
“The data shows these contracts affect certain workers more than others, and it is young workers – particularly young women – who are bearing the brunt of policy-makers’ inaction.”
She added that too many workers were on zero-hour contracts as their main job, rather than as a route to flexibility.
“While they may provide ad-hoc flexibility for a small minority of professionals who actively choose this way of working, our analysis suggests that for the vast majority, these contracts represent precarity,” she said.
“After a decade of indecision over zero-hours contracts, the UK has fallen behind and now our younger generation are paying the price. Other nations have already either banned zero-hour contracts or heavily regulated their use, so we need to catch up and find a better balance between workplace security and flexibility.
“For young people starting work for the first time, having a poor-quality job that provides irregular hours and pay can be a highly stressful first experience of working life. If they remain stuck in this kind of insecure work for long, it can really limit their chances to get better jobs in the future.
For young people starting work for the first time, having a poor-quality job that provides irregular hours and pay can be a highly stressful first experience of working life.” – Alice Martin, the Work Foundation
“Putting more power in the hands of workers would combat the unfair use of zero-hours contracts, and is a healthy step towards a secure and flexible jobs market.”
The Work Foundation is calling for all employers to provide guaranteed contractual hours for all roles (either hours per week, hours per month or annualised) and for employees to be able to ask for a zero-hours contract as part of a flexible working request if they wish for genuinely casual arrangements.
A new law giving workers the right to make a formal request for a more stable working pattern is due to come into force this year.
It also wants employers to offer more notice for changes to shifts or cancellations, a right to an amended contract if workers are doing more than a 25% uplift in hours, and for larger employers to report on types of working arrangements as part of their annual reporting cycle.
Martin added: “The reality is most people feel trapped in these highly insecure jobs due to factors out of their control. And, following a landslide in living standards, these workers are among the most vulnerable.
“A stable job and income have never been so important – but with insecure work now such an ingrained feature of the UK labour market, it is not something that can be solved overnight.
“Zero-hours contracts are just one of many issues that need resolving, but using our roadmap to reform their use will certainly take us closer to a more stable labour market and a happier and healthier workforce.”
The Work Foundation’s Insecure Work Index, published last month, reached similar conclusions to its latest analysis.
The Labour Party has pledged to introduce a ban on zero-hours contracts if it is elected into power this year, but lobbying groups such as the CBI and the REC have claimed that this could impact employers’ ability to hire the skills they need.
A 2022 report from the CIPD found that zero-hours contracts can benefit some groups due to their flexibility, including students, people with fluctuating health conditions, and those with unpredictable caring responsibilities.
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