The latest report from Work Foundation: ‘Delivering Levelling Up? How secure work can reduce regional inequality’ reveals the regions with the highest and lowest levels of ‘severely insecure’ work (employment that is involuntarily temporary or part-time, or when multiple forms of insecurity come together, such as casual or zero-hours contracts, or low or unpredictable pay).
Their study focuses on the nine Mayoral Combined Authorities and Greater London, where over a third of England’s workforce live. Of the 11 million workers there, 2.2 (19,4%) are in severely insecure work.
Key Findings
Insecure work is a national issue, but the consequences are felt locally:
- Analysis shows that those in Tees Valley are most at risk of insecure employment, with levels of insecure employment being 4.2 ppts higher than the national average. In Middlesbrough nearly a third (29.8%) of workers are in severely insecure work – 10 ppts higher than the national average.
- This research finds that higher levels of unemployment and inactivity tend to coincide with higher levels of severely insecure work across local economies and suggests that insecure work should be used alongside others as a measure of the health of labour markets.
Insecure work is vital for Levelling Up and reducing inequality:
- Insecure jobs tend to be concentrated in specific sectors – such as hospitality, social care and administrative services – but the level of insecurity in these sectors differs across the country.
- Job roles that have lower levels of worker autonomy, and more morning routine tasks are more likely to have insecure working conditions than professional and managerial roles.
- To understand the risks of insecurity and build a pathway to more secure employment residents, MCAs need to understand the historical strengths and weaknesses of their economy and what that means for the nature of the jobs provided by those sectors in their area.
Reducing insecure work and boosting secure jobs can grow local and regional economies:
- It could be a pivotal year for renewing and renovating commitments to reduce insecure work and level up city regions and the UK by 2030.
- High quality, secure jobs have the potential to boost local and regional economies, raise people’s living standards and improve physical and mental health and wellbeing outcomes. Doing so will require an active partnership between central and regional government – and due to the importance of strengthening employment law, regulation and enforcement, one which ultimately must be led by Whitehall.
Recommendations
1. To significantly reduce levels of severely insecure jobs across the UK by 2030:
The UK Government should:
- Introduce a comprehensive Employment Bill in the next Parliament That puts job quality and security at the heart of labour market regulation.
The Department For Work and Pensions should:
- Reduce the waiting time for Statutory Sick Pay from four days to zero days.
- Raise the rate of Statutory Sick Pay to 60% of usual wages, or the equivalent of the National Minimum Wage prorated by the usual number of hours worked, whichever is highest.
- For self-employed workers without staff and gig-workers, establish insurance for income protection, which workers would pay into, and would be able to access in times of illness or short-term unemployment.
The Department For Business and Trade should:
- Adapt the right to request predictable working patterns to start from day one on the job and narrow the reasons employers may give for refusal.
The Department For Business and Trade and HM Revenues and Customs must:
Commit to better resourcing the National Minimum Wage Enforcement Team, and in line with International Labour Organisation benchmarks, double the number of enforcement agents to meet international benchmarks,to ensure all UK workers receive what they earn from their employer.
2. To ensure that no English Mayoral Combined Authority is home to higher levels of severely insecure work than the national average:
Every Mayoral Combined Authority and the Greater London Authority should:
- Make tackling severely insecure work an explicit priority of their local economic development, labour market and skills strategies.
Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority should:
- Look to share lessons and best practice in improving job quality at the local level through evaluating and evolving employment chapters.
Each Mayoral Combined Authority and the Greater London Authority should:
- Review their investment strategies for opportunities to further incentivise existing and future employers to improve pay and terms and conditions for their workers
Each Mayoral Combined Authority and the greater and the Greater London Authority should:
- Review its skills strategy for opportunities to provide skills training tailored to supporting insecure workers into more secure job
Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority should:
- Work together with the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and HMRC’s NMW team to map high risk sectors, at-risk organisations and raise awareness regionally among employers and workers of their rights.
