Coronavirus· Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security· Skills· Intergenerational Centre Leaving lockdown Young people’s employment in 2021: improvements and challenges in the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic 31 January 2022 by Louise Murphy This spotlight explores younger people’s employment trajectory during the Covid-19 pandemic, before setting out where policy makers should now be focused. READ MORE
Labour market· Job quality and security· Minimum wage No shame, no gain? The role of reputation in labour market enforcement 9 November 2021 by Hannah Slaughter This briefing note is part of a three-year programme of research exploring labour market enforcement generously funded by Unbound Philanthropy. In it, we combine qualitative and quantitative research to explore how powerfully reputational concerns determine firms’ behaviour when it comes to worker rights, and whether policy makers could leverage firms’ worries about their public profile … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Job quality and security· Intergenerational Centre Out of the woods? Young people's mental health and labour market status as the economy reopens 5 July 2021 by Rukmen Sehmi Much has been said about the plight of young people during the Covid-19 crisis, both in terms of their labour market and mental health circumstances. This spotlight provides a timely update on how young people were faring at the end of May, shortly after the major relaxation of restrictions in mid-May. The proportion of economically-active … Continued READ MORE
Jobs· Job quality and security Four of a kind Analysis of trade union membership statistics 27 May 2021 by Daniel Tomlinson The Covid-19 labour market shock has changed many things, but one little-noticed pre-pandemic trend has continued: a steady increase in trade union membership. Over the past year the number of employees who are members of unions has increased by 118,000. This is the fourth year in a row in which membership has increased among employees. … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Job quality and security Double trouble Exploring the labour market and mental health impact of Covid-19 on young people 13 May 2021 by Rukmen Sehmi and Hannah Slaughter This report marks the beginning of a three-year programme of research at the Resolution Foundation investigating the relationship between the labour market and mental health outcomes of young people. In this launch paper, we focus on how young people have fared throughout the pandemic period when it comes to work and mental health. READ MORE
Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security Ethnic minorities in the hospitality sector Comparing the experiences of hospitality workers from different ethnic backgrounds 30 December 2020 by Sharon Mai and Nye Cominetti This briefing note looks at the experiences in the hospitality sector of workers from different ethnic backgrounds. It finds that 1 in 6 hospitality workers are from an ethnic minority background, compared to around 1 in 8 workers in the rest of the economy. Ethnic minority workers in hospitality vary both in their characteristics and … Continued READ MORE
Coronavirus· Job quality and security· Brexit & trade· Migration Home and away The UK labour market in a post-Brexit world 16 December 2020 by Kathleen Henehan and Lindsay Judge This briefing note considers a number of ways in which the labour market could be affected as the UK moves to a tighter, post-Brexit immigration regime in January 2021. Under the new rules, legal avenues for low-skilled migrant workers to enter the UK will be more restrictively drawn, with implications for firms, resident foreign-born workers … Continued READ MORE
Coronavirus· Jobs· Job quality and security Time out Reforming Statutory Sick Pay to support the Covid-19 recovery phase 8 December 2020 by Mike Brewer and Maja Gustafsson In a pandemic, sick pay should play a crucial public health role, as well as providing income protection. But the UK’s Statutory Sick Pay is low by international standards, and misses out two million of our lowest-paid workers. Evidence suggests that this contributes to the low level of compliance with the legal obligation to self-isolate … Continued READ MORE
Coronavirus· Labour market· Job quality and security Failed safe? Enforcing workplace health and safety in the age of Covid-19 2 November 2020 by Lindsay Judge and Hannah Slaughter This briefing note is part of a three-year programme of research exploring labour market enforcement generously funded by Unbound Philanthropy. Using a new survey of 6,000-plus UK working-age adults fielded in September this year, and administrative data from the enforcement agencies themselves, we explore how workers, employers and the regulators have responded to the threat … Continued READ MORE
Coronavirus· Jobs· Job quality and security Jobs, jobs, jobs Evaluating the effects of the current economic crisis on the UK labour market 27 October 2020 by Mike Brewer and Nye Cominetti and Kathleen Henehan and Charlie McCurdy and Rukmen Sehmi and Hannah Slaughter This report highlights which groups of workers have struggled the most as the coronavirus crisis has evolved, who is at risk as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is replaced by the Job Support Scheme, and the prospects for the future. READ MORE
Coronavirus· Jobs· Job quality and security· Low pay· Pay What happens after the clapping finishes? The pay, terms and conditions we choose for our care workers 19 April 2020 by Nye Cominetti and Laura Gardiner and Gavin Kelly The nation has rightly come together in the current crisis to express support for our care workers. But how do we normally treat the social care workforce? Due to both long-standing and nearer-term decisions and trends, frontline care workers are: underpaid, with around half earning less than the real Living Wage; particularly vulnerable to being … Continued READ MORE
Coronavirus· Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security· Low pay· Pay· Skills· Migration Crystal balls vs rear-view mirrors The UK labour market after coronavirus 7 April 2020 by Hannah Slaughter and Torsten Bell Summary Sudden and significant hits to the UK labour market in recent weeks have shown that this will be a jobs recession. The focus has rightly been on how to respond to the huge numbers of people losing work, but policy makers and pundits are also beginning to ask what this crisis could mean for … Continued READ MORE
Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security· Low pay· Pay Working hard(ship) An exploration of poverty, work and tenure 4 February 2020 by Lindsay Judge and Hannah Slaughter This report explores the nexus between poverty, work and housing, and adds to our knowledge of the topic in two distinctive ways. First, we look at in-work poverty not just as a static but also a dynamic condition. Second, we explore the intersection between housing tenure and in-work poverty. READ MORE
Labour market· Job quality and security· Low pay· Minimum wage· Living Wage Under the wage floor Exploring firms’ incentives to comply with the minimum wage 8 January 2020 by Lindsay Judge and Anna Stansbury This briefing note explores the incentives for firms to comply with the National Living Wage/National Minimum Wage (NLW/NMW). It documents the penalties that firms are subject to; estimates underpaying firms’ rate of detection; and shows that even if detection rates were significantly increased, they would need to go hand-in-hand with higher financial penalties to provide firms with a hard economic incentive to comply with the NLW/NMW. READ MORE
Jobs· Labour Market Outlook· Labour market· Job quality and security· Pay Earnings Outlook Q3 2019 27 December 2019 by Nye Cominetti and Jack Leslie Unlike our politics, 2019 was a year of strength and stability in the labour market – a year when employment reached and stayed at record highs and pay growth neared pre-recession levels. The most recent set of labour market data (for the three months to October) underlined this – the 16-64 employment rate ticked up … Continued READ MORE
Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security· Pay More than we bargain for Learning from new debates on how institutions can improve worker pay and security in Anglo-Saxon economies 15 November 2019 by Daniel Tomlinson The UK’s tight labour market is delivering improvements for many, but big challenges remain that current policies and debates aren’t yet rising to meet. The UK can learn from emerging discussions and policy innovations in other Anglo-Saxon economies. READ MORE
Incomes· Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security· Low pay· Pay Feel poor, work more Explaining the UK’s record employment 12 November 2019 by Torsten Bell and Laura Gardiner There is no bigger change to our economy over the past decade than the employment boom. We argue that this has been driven by the deep post-crisis income squeeze. This pushed up labour supply via more workers, and a pause in the long-term decline in working hours. READ MORE
Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security From rights to reality Enforcing labour market laws in the UK 16 September 2019 by Lindsay Judge and Nye Cominetti Today’s labour market looks nothing like it did even a decade ago. With more women in the workplace than ever before, the decline of key sectors such as retail and manufacturing and the rise of self-employment, who works, where we work and the ways that we work have all changed significantly over time. Laws and … Continued READ MORE
Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security· Low pay· Pay Atypical approaches: Options to support workers with insecure incomes 21 January 2019 by Conor D’Arcy and Fahmida Rahman There has been much debate about the certainty of income that atypical work provides, and whether the rights of workers are being consistently upheld. This report explores these issues, looking beyond a minimum wage premium, at how other high-income countries have sought to reduce one-sided flexibility in the labour market. READ MORE
Labour market· Job quality and security· Universal Credit· Pay Irregular Payments: Assessing the breadth and depth of month to month earnings volatility 15 October 2018 by Daniel Tomlinson This research addresses the question of earnings volatility, unearthing striking findings about the lived experience of work – and the pay we receive for it – in the UK today. This report makes use of anonymised transaction data from over seven million Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) accounts in order to demonstrate the breadth and depth of changes in pay from month to month. READ MORE
Jobs· Firms· Labour market· Job quality and security Choices, choices… Why do firms use agency workers? 10 February 2018 by Lindsay Judge With the number of agency workers on the up, this piece of research explores why firms use this contingent type of labour rather than directly employed staff. We show that the majority of firms that make use of agency workers still hire them primarily as ‘stop-gaps’,. However, one-third of such firms take a more strategic approach, taking an active business decision to hire agency workers either extensively or exclusively for certain roles. READ MORE
Zero-hour contracts· Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security Time for time-and-a-half? Exploring the evidence and policy options on overtime 12 December 2017 by Conor D’Arcy Our quarterly earnings outlook, for 2017 Q2. Our ‘Spotlight’ piece looks at why a supposedly tight labour market is not delivering higher wage growth. We suggest this is down to the contribution of the inactive population, who are providing a bigger boost to effective supply than it has historically. READ MORE
Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security· Low pay· Pay· Cities and regions ‘A-typical’ working day in Greater Manchester 25 October 2017 by Stephen Clarke Greater Manchester has experienced a growth in ‘a-typical’ work in recent years, with implications for pay and progression. In this briefing, we explore the labour market performance of Greater Manchester over recent years, comparing it to other city regions over time. READ MORE
Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security· Skills· Brexit & trade· Migration Work in Brexit Britain: reshaping the nation’s labour market 7 July 2017 Almost a year after voting to leave the European Union the negotiations for the UK’s departure began on 19th June 2017. Those negotiations and the exact nature of the agreements they lead to will dominate British politics and policy making for the years ahead, but making a success of Brexit Britain is about far more … Continued READ MORE
Jobs· Labour market· Job quality and security· Minimum wage The minimum required? Minimum wages and the self-employed 4 July 2017 by Conor D’Arcy The minimum wage revolutionised the lower end of the UK’s labour market, protecting employees from exploitation. But the self-employed – now one in seven of the workforce – are not entitled to the minimum wage. With growing concerns over their earnings and conditions, particularly in the so-called gig economy, extending the minimum wage to some … Continued READ MORE
