Social care· Low pay· Pay The scale of minimum wage underpayment in social care 9 February 2015 by Laura Gardiner There is increasing recognition that a better deal for the workforce will be essential to the quality and sustainability of social care provision in the UK, but so far there has been scant evidence as to the scale of investment needed. The Resolution Foundation is currently undertaking a major investigation into the costs of improving … Continued READ MORE
Housing The Home Stretch: coping with high housing costs 8 December 2014 by Laura Gardiner and Vidhya Alakeson Despite the strain that high housing costs cause, millions of people on modest incomes continue to live in high cost areas and are somehow coping. The Resolution Foundation report explores six ‘coping strategies’ – working more, increasing the term of a mortgage, getting help from friends and family, over-crowding, lowering standards and doubling up. It … Continued READ MORE
Pay Why 2014 hasn’t been the year of the pay rise 7 November 2014 by Matthew Whittaker and Laura Gardiner A downward shift in the mix of occupations across the workforce towards lower-paying cleaning and caring roles, along with a welcome return of younger and less experienced workers to the labour market, has prevented 2014 from being the year of the pay rise, as many economists predicted. This analysis looks at the impact of changes … Continued READ MORE
Housing Housing pinched: Understanding which households spend the most on housing costs 14 August 2014 by Laura Gardiner Close to 1.6 million UK households – the housing pinched – are spending more than half their disposable income on the ongoing costs of housing each month. Not all households spending more than one third of their income on housing (the threshold at which people are far more likely to find making housing payments difficult) … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Pay All accounted for: The case for an ‘all-worker’ earnings measure 9 July 2014 by Laura Gardiner The measures that we use to track earnings miss out the one in seven workers who is self-employed. Given continually rising self-employment and our knowledge that their earnings have taken a big hit in recent years, this briefing estimates what our most regular measure of earnings would look like with the self-employed included. Our more … Continued READ MORE
Labour market Just the Job or a Working Compromise? The changing nature of self-employment 6 May 2014 by Conor D’Arcy and Laura Gardiner The growth of self-employment has become one of the stories of the recovery. While the share of total UK employment accounted for by self-employment has risen for decades, bucking the trend internationally, its pace has accelerated since 2008. And while the number of employee jobs has only recently regained its pre-recession level, the number of … Continued READ MORE
Labour market enforcement· Labour market Zero-Hours Contracts: The latest figures and analysis 30 April 2014 by Laura Gardiner Workers on zero-hours contracts are much more likely to be underemployed, to be looking for another job, and to be without union membership than staff on conventional contracts. Almost three in 10 of all those on zero-hours contracts (29 per cent) are looking to work more hours – either in their current job or by … Continued READ MORE
