Labour Market Realities 2018 - Centre for Labour and Social Studies

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Unions are central to recalibrating our economy to ensure it delivers for the majority. We see a union premium in .... t
Labour Market Realities 2018 Workers on the Brink

The Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) is a think tank established in 2012 to act as a centre for left debate and discussion. Originating in the labour movement, CLASS works with a broad coalition of supporters, academics and experts to develop and advance alternative policies for today.

February 2018

Contents 2

Foreword - Len McCluskey

4

Executive Summary

6

Section 1 - Introduction

9

Section 2 - The Two Faces of the UK Economy

19

Section 3 - Understanding Today’s Labour Market



3.1

Privatisation, Outsourcing and Short Termism



3.2

Austerity



3.3

Brexit Opportunism

38

Section 4 - Recommendations

44

Technical Appendix

Contents 1

Labour market realities 2018

Labour market realities 2018

Contents 2 Foreword

Foreword



The collapse of the outsourcing firm Carillion at the start of this year confirmed that the neoliberal model which crossed the Atlantic some 40 years ago to take hold of political and economic thinking in this country is now heading for history’s dustbin. There’s an undeniable sense of market failure and in the wake of the scandal, and a decade since the financial crash, it’s about time we take a fresh look at the realities of our labour market. Which is why, on behalf of my union Unite, I welcome this important new analysis by CLASS, which challenges and gives perspective to the mainstream narrative of economic growth and employment. Alone among the OECD nations, while GDP continues to grow, wages in the UK have not yet recovered to 2008 levels. January’s Office for National Statistics figures confirmed that average weekly earnings continue to fall in real terms. There may be record numbers in work, and the economy may be growing, but this picture glosses over the fact that it’s not delivering for most working people. Work simply isn’t paying. The ranks of the working poor are expanding. One in eight workers now live in poverty and we increasingly hear recognition of the working families who are “just about managing”, while accumulating huge personal debt. Making work pay again, replacing the race to the bottom culture with a rate for the job society, can only be achieved through strong trade unions. Our increasingly fractured labour force needs a strong union voice now more than at any point in recent history. In 1975, 84 per cent of workers were covered by collective bargaining and 64 per cent of the economic wealth in GDP went to workers. It’s no coincidence that while union strength and collective bargaining fell, inequality rose sharply. Forty years later, the majority of the population is fighting for an increasingly smaller share of the pie, while a tiny minority at the top have pulled away from the rest. Undeniably, the

Labour market realities 2018

Unions are central to recalibrating our economy to ensure it delivers for the majority. We see a union premium in all our pay deals. And we know that workplaces with strong trade unions based on the power of the collective are safer, more equal workplaces. Unite’s exposure of the shameful working practices at Sports Direct demonstrates unions are often the first to hear and raise awareness of workplace exploitation, and it is an example of how a clear and strong trade union response can protect workers and call out bad bosses. That’s why the work of Unite community members in bringing people in insecure work and working in the gig economy into union membership is so vital. Union reps on the ground are a vital source of labour market intelligence, but they are ignored in mainstream discussions. We welcome CLASS’s effort to start this process of listening and responding to our workplace experts. A truly transformative approach to the labour market is the democratisation of our economy and industries. It must involve workers at every level with the trade unions having a seat at the table at least equal to employers and government. This report tells us just how much needs to change to deliver for Britain’s workforce. It’s now up to us to take action.



Len McCluskey General Secretary - Unite the Union

Contents 3 Foreword

decline in union power since the 1970s has choked off the strength amassed during the post-war years to deliver justice in wealth distribution.

Labour market realities 2018

Executive Summary Contents 4

Executive Summary



Don was falling apart. They push drivers till they break. They should have looked after him more Work colleague of Don Lane, who died while working for a courier company1.



This is the first annual Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) report on the state of the UK labour market. Labour Market Realities aims to move beyond the soundbites of mainstream debates to provide an analysis of the economy rooted in the lived experience of it. Drawing on the knowledge of the labour movement, as well as the perspectives of workers themselves, our findings challenge the narrative of record employment in the UK and highlight the multitude of pressures facing those in the economy on a day-to-day basis.

Work isn’t Working CLASS’s 2018 survey of workers finds that the UK economy is increasingly treacherous. As little as one in four of the working population think the economy is working well for them and almost half deem the current state of the economy as a threat to their future employment. Unsurprisingly, concern peaks among those on low incomes but those further up the income distribution are not immune. 46% of those earning in excess of £40,000 a year consider the economy a threat.

Labour market realities 2018

Such widespread challenges are the new normal in the UK economy. Real wages are not expected to rise above pre-crisis levels until 2025 and if recent trends continue, this past decade will be among the worst for wage growth in two centuries. This feeling of stagnation is present amongst the working population – only 16% expect to receive an inflation-beating pay rise in the coming year, with another 6% expecting an inflation matching pay rise.

A Perfect Storm Speaking to officials across the trade union movement overseeing sectors from food to education, there are three connected processes that are driving these trends: 1. Privatisation – The tendency of companies to outsource and privatise has increasingly come at the expense of worker security and pay. The case of Carillion is emblematic of a business model that prioritises shareholder dividends over workers’ pensions. This is not, however, an isolated case but representative of a systemic problem that puts downward pressure on workers’ pay and terms and conditions. 2. Austerity – Our survey found that over half of the working population deems government cuts to be a threat to their employment. Our interviews further highlighted the extreme pressure that many workers, particularly in the public sector, are under. Relentless cuts to government funding have led to workers doing more for less as services reach breaking point. Almost two-thirds of public sector workers have noticed an increase in stress and workload over the past 12 months. 3. Brexit Opportunism – Moving forward, there is a real danger of companies and employees using Brexit to suppress wages and delay investment. Trade union officials already told of job losses in Scotland and Yorkshire due to Brexit and warned, that without further protections, this is likely to be “the trickle before the flood.”

Executive Summary Contents 5

The reality is that in the face of high inflation and constant downward pressure on wages, workers are struggling. Over a third of the entire working population state that they do not earn enough to keep up with the basic cost of living. This proportion increases to almost half for those earning less than £20,000. Amongst those aged 18 to 24 and 25 to 34, 39% and 44% respectively are struggling to make ends meet. Again, 30% of high earners claim to not earn enough to keep up with basic costs.

Labour market realities 2018

Executive summary  6

Twice as many workers beleive Brexit will have a negative, rather than positive, impact on workers’ rights and public investment. As one union official noted, “Brexit is not creating these issues but it is exacerbating every single one.” The combined effect of these three obstacles is confronting workers with increasingly unsustainable pressures. Making ends meet in the current economic circumstances is an exercise in “running to stand still.” Our survey found that around one quarter of workers are working more than their contracted hours on a weekly basis. Yet, still, in excess of 30 per cent of the working population would like to take on even more hours and one fifth of households have taken on a second job. Amidst a culture of cost-cutting and work intensification, employment is often a hotbed for stress. Over half the working population have noticed an increase in employee stress over the past 12 months. The outlook in the public sector is particularly bleak, with workers here showing greater concerns regarding stress, recruitment, redundancies and pay.

A New Path for the Economy It is now clear that the long-term economic plan has failed with the economy unable to deliver on its most central objective – living standards. At a time of huge insecurity for the majority of the working population and uncertainty looming over the economy as a whole, it is time to be bold. An end to an era of austerity that has suppressed wages and placed unprecedented pressures on workers across the spectrum is desperately needed. Reigning in the excesses of privatisation and promoting the voices of workers in key decision-making arenas should be urgent priorities. Concrete and long-lasting change means greater voice and influence for workers in the workplace. Workers are the backbone of our economy. If we do not act now to alleviate stress, stagnating wages and job insecurity we are putting the nation’s health, as well as our collective prosperity at risk. We simply cannot afford to ignore the reality of the labour market.

Introduction  7

Executive summary

Labour market realities 2018

Introduction



I report today on an economy that continues to grow, continues

to create more jobs than ever before and continues to confound those who seek to talk it down



Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP2



Before it was different, I could work probably 40 hours and have

quite a good chunk in my pocket… but nowadays it’s very difficult to even break even



Worker, Labour Market Realities series3

For the first time in historically comparable records, increased real Gross Dometic Product (GDP) per capita growth no longer equates to an increase in real earnings. The proliferation of zero-hour contracts, bad jobs and economic insecurity has left a large segment of the population struggling. The increased costs of basic goods and housing are putting further strain on household incomes – resulting in near record levels of household debt. Meanwhile official statistics on GDP, employment and the stock markets tell a very different story of an economy that is remaining resilient in the face

Labour market realities 2018

of Brexit uncertainty. What story should we believe and why has the economy decoupled from the financial situation of the majority of the public? This report aims to examine this question. It starts from the basic premise that the public, and in particular workers, are the key arbiters of the economy. To date we have Introduction  8

focused on business or consumer confidence as a marker of how the economy is doing and where it will go next. While these groups are important economic actors, this approach ignores the experience of workers – those delivering in the private and public sector day in and day out; those feeling the daily pulse of the workplace; and those who are paying the lion share of government revenue. Ignoring their experiences not only means we sideline vital economic agents – it means we fail to capture the true impacts of government policy. This report re-roots economic debates in the voices of workers. It summarises findings from a survey of 2,000 working adults across the United Kingdom to draw out if and how the economy is working for workers, outlining levels of confidence in the labour market and consequences for households and individuals. In understanding these trends it listens to the voices of those who are collating workers’ woes across sectors – trade union representatives and officials. We conducted 20 in-depth interviews with officers and representatives from across the trade union movement. This important resource of labour market intelligence allows us to understand the underlying driving factors – going beyond the mainstream arguments of low productivity or a weak pound – finding three interlocking crises of privatisation, austerity and Brexit opportunism. Taken together – workers and trade unions – provide us a with a fresh and vital temperature check on our labour market, and helpfully reorient us away from status quo voices that have failed to build an economy that delivers for the majority.

Structure of the Report The rest of this report is as follows: Section 2 summarises key trends in the labour market alongside the key finding from our Workers Survey; Sections 3 examine key

Labour market realities 2018

Why Listen to Workers Voices? Listening to workers’ voices is much more than just intrinsically valuable. Not only are those engaged in the everyday economy best placed to shed light on the experience of contemporary work but it is a reminder that the economy needs to be run in their interests.

This has not been the case over recent decades. Since 1970, the labour share of national income has fallen by over 5% in the UK4. This share was originally safeguarded by trade unions. Multiple studies, including those conducted by the OECD5 and the IMF6 , have noted that a key contributor to the rise of inequality has been deunionisation and the retraction of collective bargaining coverage for large parts of the working population. The positive benefits of listening and acting in tandem with workers’ voices are not restricted to better wages and conditions. Recent research has noted that productivity is higher in countries where worker voice and influence is stronger7. This is the norm across the majority of European countries where employee representation at board level is commonplace. As such, ensuring that workers can influence the workplace and the wider economy is not only beneficial for employee wellbeing and motivation but is also associated with superior corporate governance structures and tangible macroeconomic benefits8. For more details of CLASS’s workers survey, see the technical appendix at the end.

Introduction  9

themes that have emerged from this report in succession – privatisation, austerity and Brexit opportunism; and Section 4 discusses policy recommendations.

Two Faces of the Economy  10

Labour market realities 2018

Section 2

The Two Faces of the UK Economy There appears to be two UK economies. There is the first economy that sustains growth in an age of Brexit-related uncertainty, boasts the joint highest level of employment since records began and flouts record levels of job vacancies11. In the second economy, meanwhile, productivity growth is at its worst for two centuries, real pay is falling and not predicted to rise above its pre-crisis peak until 202512 and child poverty is approaching near record levels13. It would also appear that these economies reside in different public fora. The former is prevalent in the mainstream media and given credence during key parliament speeches14, while the latter emerges in academia and think-tank reports. The experience of the UK economy over the past decade has shown that these economies can often co-exist. While Figure 2.1 shows the rise to record employment, this is not equating into wage growth. The UK economy is alone among its European contemporaries in having an economy that is growing but where real wages are falling. Figure 2.2 shows this disconnect.

Perceptions are worse amongst younger cohorts, those living in London and those on lower incomes. Amongst these demographics well in excess of 50% feel threatened by the state of the economy… those on higher incomes are not immune.

Two Faces of the Economy  11

Labour market realities 2018

Labour market realities 2018

Employment has been rising... 76 75

72 71 70 69

2017 Jun 2017 Oct

2016 Oct 2017 Feb

2016 Jun

2015 Oct

2016 Feb

2014 Oct

2015 Feb 2015 Jun

2014 Jun

2013 Oct 2014 Feb

2013 Jun

2012 Oct

2013 Feb

2012 Feb

2012 Jun

2011 Jun 2011 Oct

2010 Feb

2010 Jun 2010 Oct 2011 Feb

2009 Feb 2009 Oct

2008 Feb

68

2008 Jun 2008 Oct

Employment Rate 16-64 (%)

73

Figure 2.1: Source: ONS - Labour Force Survey, January 2018 release

...but real wages are falling 40 35

Growth Domestic Product

30 20 15 10

Real Wages 2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

5 2000

Growth since 2000 (%)

Two Faces of the Economy  12

74

Figure 2.2: Source: ONS – Gross Domestic Product, January 2018 Release and CPI-adjusted Average Weekly Pay (2015 prices), January 2018 releases

‘The Economy Doesn’t Work for Me’ Our research has shown that, for the average worker, the economy is not working. In fact, when asked, only a quarter of our 2,000 respondents think the economy is working well for them. In other words, for three-quarters of the working population, the economy is not working.

Labour market realities 2018

Few think the economy is working for them 50 How is the economy working for you?

45

Badly

40

Neither Well

35

Percentage of respondents

30 25 20 15 10 5

All

0-£19,999

£20,000-£39,999

>£40,000

Figure 2.3: Source: CLASS poll of 2,000 workers (January 2018)

There are also important variations across sectors. For example, the proportion of workers in finance who deem the economy to be working well for them is more than double that of those working in health. Data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings reiterates the divergent experience of different sectors in the UK economy . As Figure 2.3 shows, median wages in finance, already the best remunerated sector, have continued to pull further away from the rest of the economy15. Meanwhile wages in sectors such as health and education are increasing slower than the UK average.

Two Faces of the Economy  13

Unsurprisingly, those on lower incomes (up to £19,999) are more pessimistic – little over one in five think the economy is working. Yet, a recurring theme of this report is that successfully navigating the UK economy is more and more challenging for a greater number of people. Those earning £20,000 to £39,999 are more likely to think the economy is working badly and even among incomes in excess of £40,000, less than a third think the economy is working well.

Two Faces of the Economy  14

The experience of the financial sector, and particularly those at the top of the income distribution is, evidently, the exception to the rule. The majority of workers in the economy are experiencing stagnant or declining wages. In fact, real wages are not expected to rise above their pre-crisis levels until 2025. For the average worker in the UK economy, that represents 17 years without a pay-rise.

Almost all sectors saw a decrease in real wages 2008 - 2017 4%

Finance

2% 0% 2%

£400 Agricultural

£500

£600

UK

Manufacturing Construction Transport Education

8% 10%

£800

Retail

4% 6%

£700

Health

12% Figure 2.4: Median Wage 2017 and % Increase in Real Wages from 2008 to 2017 (CPI-adjusted, 2015 prices). Source: CLASS analysis of Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, October 2017 release.

Workers’ Confidence in the economy Our survey found that almost half of all workers believe the state of economy is a threat to their future employment. Perceptions are worse amongst younger cohorts, those living in London and those on lower incomes. Amongst these demographics well in excess of 50% feel threatened by the state of the economy. Once again those on higher incomes are not immune - over 45% of those earning more than £40,000 also deem the economy a threat to their future employment. As we shall see in later sections, the biggest perceived threats to employment are company cuts, government cuts, low-pay and overworking. Those employed in the public sector are, perhaps unsurprisingly given the current political climate, much more concerned about government cuts than the rest of the general population.

Labour market realities 2018

There is plenty of evidence that corroborates such widespread pessimism on behalf of the working population. Firstly, if recent trends continue, this decade is likely to be the worst for pay growth in over 200 years. As wages have failed to keep up with rising inflation, many families are struggling to make ends meet. Recent work by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation places as many as 14 million people in the UK living in poverty17. In some UK constituencies over half of all children are growing up in poverty18. Our survey has similarly shown that households with a greater number of members aged under-18 are more likely to agree with the statement “I do not earn enough to keep up with the basic cost of living”.

‘The economy is a threat to me’ 90 80

Figure 2.5: Is the economy a threat? Graphic measures those who answered ‘yes’. Measured by age group and income bracket. left and right. Source: CLASS survey of 2,000 workers (January 2018)

70

50

INCOME

65+

55-64yrs

45-54yrs

35-44yrs

25-34yrs

0

18-24yrs

10

£0-£19,999

20

>£40,000

30

£20,000-£39,999

40

ALL

Percentage

60

AGE

More widely, more than a third of the entire working population do not earn enough to keep up with these basic costs. After years of austerity and associated benefits freezes, it is those on lower incomes that are really struggling. Around half of those earning less than £20,000 do not earn enough to keep up with basic costs but, once more, higher earners are not immune. Around 30% of those earning in excess of £40,000 still struggle. This squeeze on living standards shows no real sign of abating. Although the introduction of the National Living Wage has had some impact on those at the bottom of the income distribution19 and inflation is likely to ease, well under half our sample is expecting any kind of pay-rise in the coming year. Of those who do, the

Two Faces of the Economy  15

Poor Pay Prospects

Labour market realities 2018

Most workers don’t believe they will get a pay rise this year 60 55 50 45 Percentage

Two Faces of the Economy  16

majority are anticipating nominal increases of 1 or 2%. This is likely to remain below the rate of inflation throughout the course of 2018. To put it bluntly, almost 80% of our sample are expecting to get poorer over the coming year.

40 35 30 25 20 15 10

No (57%)

Yes (24%)

Yes (above

Don’t know (3%)

inflation) 16%

5

No (57%)

Yes (up to Yes (above Don’t Know (3%) inflation) 24% inflation) 16%

Figure 2.6: Source: CLASS survey of 2,000 workers (January 2018)

Second Jobs and Household Debt With constant pressure on household budgets, many are turning to second jobs or quick access to credit to plug shortfalls. 20% of our sample has taken on a second job to try and make ends meet, whilst a further 20% have either tried or contemplated it. Again, those living in London and those aged 18 to 24 exhibit a greater uptake than the rest of the working population. Outside of employment, credit cards are by far the most popular choice of making ends meet. Half of those who do not earn enough to keep revert to them, although the percentages increase as you go up the income scale. Low earners will more typi-

Labour market realities 2018

These findings resonate with a variety of other sources. For example, recent research by the IFS has found that around 50% of households have some form of debt20. The first Financial Lives Survey found that a quarter of all adults had gone overdrawn in the preceding twelve months, while half the renting population would struggle if payments increased by £100 a month21. For the first time since records began, households have been net borrowers for four successive quarters22.

Working more than contracted hours 43%

Contracted hours per week

1-8

57%

9 - 16

3%

17 - 24

6%

69%

25%

25 - 32

7%

70%

23%

33 - 40

4%

41 - 48

64%

31%

74%

11%

66%

worked less

worked contracted hours

22%

24%

worked more

Figure 2.7: Source: CLASS survey of 2,000 workers (January 2018)

In such challenging conditions, people are often reduced to working or looking to work more hours. Over 30% of workers want more hours with the proportion increasing to 40% for those living in London, 46% for low earners and 58% for those aged 18 to 24. With overtime regulations scant in the UK compared to other countries23, the increased workload often goes unrecognised in terms of people’s pay packets. Across our sample, working beyond an individual’s contracted hours was extremely common. Figure 3.6 below shows the proportion of workers who work overtime categoried by their contracted hours. Across the spectrum, almost one in four work

Two Faces of the Economy  17

cally resort to social networks to find money or, more worryingly, to payday loans.

Two Faces of the Economy  18

Labour market realities 2018

There is a culture of utterly brutal management and workers doing more for less.

Labour market realities 2018

The combination of these factors is a steady and sustained squeeze on the quality and experience of work in the UK. Our survey, as we will see in the following sections, found that work intensification, diminishing pay and reduced employee voice is concurrent alongside huge incidences of stress in the workplace. This wider sense of economic insecurity, as a recent RSA report underlined24, is the new normal for large swathes of the UK population.



Job insecurity is an enormous factor. Having workers so stressed out about losing their jobs, it’s not a good thing… it’s actually a devastating thing across a workforce to see so many people frightened of challenging the bad behaviours they witness because they’re scared of the consequences.



Public Sector Worker (Labour Market Realities blog)25

Two Faces of the Economy  19

beyond their contracted hours on a weekly basis. Of those who are working beyond their hours, almost 70% do not receive extra pay for working anti-social hours or on the weekend.

Labour market realities 2018

Two Faces of the Economy  20

Section 3

Understanding today’s labour market It is impossible to understand the experiences of those engaged in the labour market without considering the wider economy. Workers are entangled in processes that stretch beyond the confines of their workplace, their home and, sometimes, the UK. While the preceding section of this report has focused on the impact of these processes for workers, this section will outline the drivers of these trends as identified by trade union officials. Our ninteen interviewees span all key industrial sectors – from social care to construction and from education to banking – and are located across the UK. Trade union officers are often the first to hear when things go wrong in the workplace and are uniquely placed to offer insight into the key issues in their focus sectors. This section is broken down in line with the three headline factors identified in our expert interviews. The first is privatisation, out-sourcing and short-termism; the second is austerity; and the third is Brexit opportunism. It is important to note, however, that these processes are interrelated and workers can, have, and will, experience the aggregate effect of all three. Many date the roots of these trends – in particular, privatisation and austerity – to the political economy of the 1980s. This era marked the lionisation of the market at the expense of the state and the needs of capital at the expense of labour26. In 2018, this ideology dominates the economic landscape of the United Kingdom. It is a landscape where risk is increasingly socialised and born by individual workers, while the profits and rewards are concentrated among the few.

Labour market realities 2018

The vote to leave to the European Union adds a further layer of uncertainty to an economy that already lacks public and private investment. Combined with a long history of privatisation and now a decade of austerity cuts, Brexit and the uncertainty surrounding it represents another pitfall for workers to navigate in the UK economy.

Recent events have catapulted debates about the private provision of public services to the top of the political agenda. 2018 has already seen the withdrawal of Virgin and Stagecoach from obligations to run the East Coast railway line27 , the continued furore surrounding the public-private Haringey Development Vehicle and, most notably, the collapse of Carillion, the second largest construction company in the United Kingdom. While many of the current debates surrounding, for instance, private finance initiatives have focused on the ramifications for public spending , our research is an attempt to analyse the effects of privatisation and outsourcing for workers themselves. The clearest manifestations of this, as outlined below, have been a degradation of workers terms and conditions and an intensification of work. In the words of a recent Smith Institute report, the tendency to outsource can also have ‘dire social consequences.’

Terms and Conditions Throughout the interviews we conducted, outsourcing and privatisation were continually associated with inferior terms and conditions across a number of sectors.



The privatisation of them [the big crown post offices] is a huge problem, the privately run offices run cheaper... [Staff post-privatisation] are working more hours, they’re on minimum wage, they’ve got reduced holidays… The quality of those jobs is diminishing through outsourcing and privatisation. Trade Union Official - Postal and Courier Services



Understanding Today’s labour market  21

Privatisation, Out-Sourcing and Short Termism

Labour market realities 2018

“ Understanding Today’s labour market  22

With the new lower pay grade they’ve introduced, [staff] also have to have to work longer and into the weekend and not getting paid any extra for it. Trade Union Official - Telecommunications



The general perception that pay and terms and conditions have not been improving also came across in our survey. 67% of the working population deemed that their wages had stayed about the same or fallen in the preceding year, 79% and 78% thought likewise regarding annual leave and other benefits (such as pensions) respectively.



They’re consulting on changes to defined benefit pension schemes and want to transition to defined contribution schemes, which tend to be less generous. New entrants are put on the defined contributions… This is driven by a culture of costcutting… meanwhile there are significant dividend pay-outs. Trade Union Official - Telecommunications



Zero hours employees are working longer

Actual hours worked by those on zero hours contracts

30 25 20 15 10 5 +21% 1-8

+23% 9-16

+12% 17-24

+16% 25-32

+12% 33-40

Contracted hours Figure 3.1: Source: CLASS poll of 2,000 workers (January 2018)

+3% 41-48

+3% 49-56

+2% +56

Labour market realities 2018

One interviewee succinctly summarised how the problem of economic insecurity was encroaching on those who are more typically associated with more secure positions.



There’s insecurity in several senses… absolute insecurity of a very large precariously employed, casualised section of the workforce in further education, higher education, adult education and prison education. They’ve all got this large periphery of people on insecure contracts, many of whom just don’t ever make it off insecure contracts now… [But] also a sense of erosion of job security for those people who are technically permanently employed… I suppose that is about a solid third, if not more, of the workforce… but they’re seeing traditional job securities being eroded. Trade Union Official - Education



Work Intensification Accompanying this casualisation of the workforce is a general intensification of work. This has been consistently highlighted for key areas of the public sector – a recent survey of teachers, for example, found that over four fifths found their workload unmanageable31 and this overburden of work was reiterated for a number of sectors in our interviews with trade union officials. These problems, however, are also prevalent in the private sector. Over half of those employed in the private sector deem overwork a threat to their future employment. This is particularly prevalent in areas such as agriculture which, as shown in Figure 2.3, is amongst the worst paying sectors in the UK. Increasing competition for market share is inextricably linked to falling profits and cost-cutting which, in turn, is squeezing workers32.

Understanding Today’s labour market  23

A concurrent, and related theme, is the casualisation of the workforce. Since 2010, Labour Force Survey data shows that the number of employees on a zero-hours contract has increased more than fivefold, from 168,000 to 883,00030. Amongst our survey, 11% of the population had no stated hours and yet our data shows that this demographic routinely works well beyond this. Figure 4.1 below details the breakdown for actual hours worked amongst this demographic. One in five of those on zero hour contracts are working hours typically associated with full-time (or more).

Labour market realities 2018

As one official highlighted:

Understanding Today’s labour market  24



Underpinning all of these issues is the basic mechanisms through which these sectors are financed. [The companies] pile on debt for quick expansion, it is not sustainable… the profits are maintained via cuts and jobs… I mean there is a culture of utterly brutal management and workers doing more for less… [Trade union representatives] are saying part of their job is being on suicide watch. Trade Union Official - Food, Drink and Agriculture



Endemic low-pay exacerbates the issue of overwork. One interviewee commented that “workers are often speaking to reps and asking how do we get around [the working time directive]?” Our survey found that over 50% of those employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing want more hours than their employer can currently offer, this is on top of the fact that Labour Force Survey data shows that those employed in this sector already work more than 10 hours a week more than the national average33. These jobs are inherently low paid and low quality which, as recent research shows, aggravates the physical and mental health of workers34.

Privatisation and Public Sector Spending As noted earlier, the drivers of workers’ experiences do not operate in isolation. Austerity, which is the focus of the next sub-section, has occurred alongside and reinforced the mechanics of privatisation and outsourcing. In the words of one trade union official:



You’ve had 30 years plus now of a reform of public services… and they’re looking at every bit of their operation as a business and saying where is the value being added? There’s a real sense that institutions have to run to stand still…. and then when you add in the austerity funding cuts, then that sort of puts rocketboosters to all that. Trade Union Official - Education



CASE STUDY 1: Carillion and Private Finance Initiatives The collapse of Carillion is widely considered to be the perfect example of a privatised business model that prioritises profits and shareholder pay-outs at the expense of workers’ security and good quality public service provision. In the years preceding Carillion’s collapse, dividends going to shareholders were more than double the total cash inflow from operations35. The House of Commons briefing paper told how the firm used ‘aggressive accounting’ measures to optimistically value their operations and continue to declare profits36. Meanwhile, the company’s pension scheme accumulated a deficit of £800-900 million37 and thousands of jobs are now at risk. Yet, as the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute have noted, Carillion is indicative of wider processes of financialisation and privatisation that enable companies to extract huge value from public service provision and socialise risk38. Schemes such as these were originally touted as being more cost-efficient for the government. However, a recent National Audit Office report, has shown that the cost of private contracts can greatly exceed the original provision operated in-house39. As one interviewee told CLASS, “…the sort of efficiency this means is workers doing more for less. That means lower pay, worse terms and conditions and often a lower level of service in order to deliver a contract at the lowest possible cost or making promises that cannot be kept.”

Understanding Today’s labour market  25

Labour market realities 2018

Labour market realities 2018

Understanding Today’s labour market  26

CASE STUDY 2: BT and Agency Staff ‘Pay between assignments’ (PBA) contracts were originally envisioned to allow agency workers to receive a salary in periods of no work. For instance, call centre staff are employed through an agency and if a week passes where they are not needed, a PBA contract ensures that the employee still receives a wage of at least 50% of assignment pay40. “Or this was the idea”, as CLASS was told. What often happens in practise is employers will hire staff through an agency on a PBA contract in order to repress pay. “The Agency Worker Regulations introduced in 2011 state that after 12 weeks of employment, agency workers should receive the same pay as other employees. But this is not the case with pay between assignment contracts.” BT, for example, recruits through an agency called Manpower using PBAs in order to keep agency staff on lower pay. Interviewees told CLASS that there are “as many as 2,000 people currently on these contracts who should be on equal pay… many of these agency workers can be earning up to £400/500 less than their counterparts per month for doing exactly the same work.” The original regulations stipulate that agency workers are not to be used as substitutes for cheap labour. This point was re-iterated by the Taylor Review last year which recommended abolishing the loophole (sometimes known as the Swedish derogation) as it was clearly being abused – “dealing effectively with abuses of ‘pay between assignments’ contracts will go a long way to protecting agency workers.”41

Austerity After almost a decade of austerity measures, the UK economy is going nowhere fast. An obsessive remit to drive down government debt has failed. It has failed on its own terms – a budget surplus is not now expected until 2031, sixteen years later than envisioned42 – and failed the public with a low pay and low-skill workforce that is experiencing the slowest recovery on record43.

Labour market realities 2018

Across both our survey of workers and the interviews we held with trade union officials, austerity was one of the most prevalent explanations for workplace stress, stagnant pay and wider concerns regarding job security. The following sub-section outlines the impact of austerity cuts with a particular emphasis on pay prospects in the public sector.

There is considerable research demonstrating the regressive nature of public spending cuts – with the poorest areas, poorest households and in particular, ethnic minority women hardest hit44. In terms of public jobs and workplaces, the cuts have been damning across departments and from the national to the local level. On a day to day, per-capita basis, government departmental spending had fallen 9.9% in the decade leading up to the November 2017 budget, with the most recent announcement pencilling in a further decline of 3.2% in spending percapita through to the end of this government45. Cuts have also been unevenly spread across departments. While total civil service staff numbers declined by just under 20% from 2010 through to 2016, certain departments such as the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Justice and the Department of Health have been particularly hard hit. The Department for Communities and Local Government (now the Ministry of Communities and Local Government) saw the number of full time employees nearly halve between 2010 and the end of 201646. Services with direct public provision have also suffered. Overall police numbers have fallen by 20,000 since 2010, with thousands of frontline roles lost47. The latest Royal College of Nursing Employment Survey48 found that 60% of nurses are struggling financially, with one in ten nurses now leaving NHS England annually49. Across London, council youth service employment has been reduced on average by 39 per cent since 2011/1250. Meanwhile, those staff members who remain in the public sector are seeing minimal or non-existent pay rises. This is obviously a loss for workers themselves but has also had a numbing impact on the rest of the economy - the TUC has estimated foregone disposable income has cost regional economies in excess of £25 billion from 2010 through to 201651. Looking forward the picture remains largely the same; CLASS analysis conducted for PCS found that given the spending limits outlined in the Autumn Budget, any increase in public sector

Understanding Today’s labour market  27

Impacts of Austerity to Date

Labour market realities 2018

pay will have to come about through cuts to service provision or the number of personnel52.

Understanding Today’s labour market  28

All Work, No Pay The effects of years of austerity on pay were one of the most prominent themes throughout our interviews with trade union officials. Downward pressure on pay and terms and conditions, alongside a general intensification of work, was highlighted by worker representatives from across education, health, the post office and local government. Despite promises to protect key areas of front-line government spending from cuts, for example, estimates suggest that around 90% of schools can expect real term funding cuts throughout this parliament53. This is increasing the strain on teachers which, as union officials told us, is the biggest cause of teacher loss. Staff retention is becoming an increasing problem for younger and younger cohorts of the sector. As one interviewee commented:



Support staff numbers are being substantially cut, the curriculum is starting to narrow… availability of subject choices is being affected, school resources are under pressure, dayto-day maintenance is under pressure, enrichment activities for students are under pressure, parents are being asked to contribute more than they used to… [this] all adds up to a worse education for students but also adds up for our members. Trade Union Official - Education



These trends are by no means specific to the public sector. However, as our survey has shown, they are at their worst here. Over the past 12 months, the workers we surveyed perceived a deterioration in the balance between the positive and negative aspects of their jobs.

Labour market realities 2018

Perceived increases in workload, difficulties in recruitment, and redundancies 70 60

Public Sector

50 40 30 20 10 Increased workload

Difficulties recruiting

Increase in redundancies

Figure 3.2 Percentage stating a increase in the above categories over the past 12 months. Source: CLASS survey of 2,000 workers (January 2018).

Perceived decreases in pay, promotions and workplace democracy 50

All

40

Public Sector

30 20 10

Likelihood of pay increase

Likelihood of promotion

A voice for employees

Figure 3.3 Percentage stating a decrease in the above categories over the past 12 months. Source: CLASS survey of 2,000 workers (January 2018).

Understanding Today’s labour market  29

All

Labour market realities 2018

Understanding Today’s labour market  30

Increased stress and workload is by far the standout experience change for workers across the economy. Over half the population have noticed an increase in stress and workload in their workplace over the past year. This proportion increases to 62% in the public sector. There is a perception of increasing redundancies and heightened difficulty in recruitment alongside a diminishing of employee voice and fewer opportunities for promotions and payrises. This resonates with officials from across the trade union movement. In the words of one interviewee:



If you take pay and pensions, [pay] has been eroding for years now, well for 10 years, they’ve consistently lost value on their pay and yet possibly because [education has] been relatively sheltered from the worst of the austerity there has been a low level of anger about pay but I think that has shifted over the past two years. Trade Union Official - Education



Consequently, it is not surprising that company and government cuts are among the biggest perceived threats to future employment. Our survey found that 60% of the population perceive company cuts and 54% deem government cuts as threats to their employment. Among those in the public sector, over two thirds deem government cuts to be threatening. Figure 3.4 below charts the five biggest threats for the working population at large.

Threats to employment 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 Company cuts

Gov’t cuts

Low pay

Overwork

Automation

Figure 3.4 Percentage stating an increase in the above categories were a threat to employment. Source: CLASS survey of 2,000 workers (January 2018).

Labour market realities 2018

On top of struggles for decent pay, many of the government’s austerity measures have heaped further problems on those towards the bottom of the income distribution. Numerous organisations have highlighted the relationship between the benefits freeze and increased poverty54. For instance, the limit of benefits for the first two children in the family or ‘two child limit’ as it is more commonly known is projected to increase absolute poverty by little under 1 percentage point and absolute child poverty by over 2 percentage points55. In our sample, the ratio of those who had seen a decrease in their tax credits/benefits to those who had seen an increase was three to one. Those who have seen a decrease have the worst perceptions of both how the economy is working for them and keeping up with basic costs of living, with almost 60% failing to keep up with the basic cost of living.

Understanding Today’s labour market 31

Benefits Freeze

Labour market realities 2018

CASE STUDY 3: Austerity and Improving Access to Psychosocial Therapy

Understanding Today’s labour market  32

The NHS and Social Care was by far the biggest concern of our survey respondents. Over a third claimed these sectors should be the main domestic priority for government in 2018. Anxiety over the future of UK healthcare is shared by head of NHS England, Simon Stevens, who recently claimed that without extra investment the health service “could no longer do everything that is being asked of it.” Yet, concurrently, as part of the government’s ‘Five Year Forward View for Mental Health’56, there is a massive expansion planned for the Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) programme. The programme has a target to increase coverage from 15% to 25% of all adult anxiety disorders and depression by 2020/21. With NHS funding falling well short of necessary levels57, workers remain under huge pressure to increase productivity and meet targets. The programme has been described as “something akin to a factory line”, where patients’ “recovery” from depression is quantified at a score of 10 or below for measures of depression and 7 or below for measures of anxiety. Staff become so focused on the recovery scores that they are often referred to as a staff member’s own recovery scores – as if they are a measure of staff competence or performance. “It is so simplistic, it’s ridiculous”, one trade union representative told CLASS58. While the most recent official statistics claim that 88.3% of referrals waited less than 6 weeks , those who deliver these services state that waiting times for individual one to one psychological intervention are at least a year in certain parts of the country61. Numerous sources have reiterated the pressures and perverse incentives placed on IAPT services62. In fact, the work environment has got to the stage where half of psychological professionals report feeling like failures and a similar amount report severe depression63. “There is an ethos of compassion inherent within this type of work and that is being strained. You are being asked to provide a service that you think is substandard… The NHS used to be stable, people saw it as a rewarding career but now people are thinking, rightly so, that they can get better pay and conditions working in private practice whilst providing psychological interventions designed to meet patients’ needs rather than financial incentives64.”

Labour market realities 2018

Brexit Opportunism

Other orthodox barometers of the economy also point to signs of fragility. The Bank of England has noted the role of Brexit-related uncertainty in recruitment difficulties, across both a broad range of sectors and skill levels66. The International Monetary Fund has also claimed that the vote to leave the European Union is already hurting the UK economy, in particular through lower relative levels of economic growth compared to other high-income countries67. Throughout our interviews with trade union officials it was clear that Brexit uncertainty was already leading to challenges for workers. Compounded with the drivers previously outlined, there is a danger of so-called ‘Brexit opportunism’. By this, we mean employers using Brexit as an opportunity to hold down wages and/or terms and conditions. This negative perception of Brexit on working life is also corroborated by our survey of workers.

A Price to Pay

Neither 14%

It has been established that the vote to leave the European Union was about more than just Agree economics. While it is not the intention of this report to contribute to these debates, our 59% survey has found however that when it comes to the impact of Brexit on their working life, Disagree workers are twice as likely to think the impact will be negative than they are positive. This 26% balance has remained largely unchanged since the time of the referendum and is in line with other findings68. However, when asked about certain repercussions, workers think the impact on the amount of public investment, the direction of public investment and regulations on workers’ rights are going to be overwhelmingly negative. Across all three of these areas, more than double the proportion of workers think the impact of Brexit will be negative than positive.

Understanding Today’s labour market  33

While the previous sub-sections of this report have detailed two phenomena whose impacts have been visible and tangible, this third sub-section is more prognostic. While the ramifications of leaving the European Union are still uncertain, the majority of estimates, including the government’s own analysis65, have concluded that the economic impact will be negative.

Don’t Know

Labour market realities 2018

Don’t Know

Understanding Today’s labour market 34

How workers feel about Brexit

Negative Impact Neither positive nor negative 28%

49%

Positive Impact 16%

Figure 3.4: Question: What kind of impact do you think Brexit will have on your working life? Source: CLASS survey of 2,000 workers.

Impact of Brexit on Workers Rights and Public Investment Workers Rights

Positive

Direction of Public Investment

Neither Negative Don’t Know

Amount of Public Investment

0%

20%

40%

Percentage

60%

80%

Figure 3.5: Question: What kind of impact do you think Brexit will have on... ? Source: CLASS survey of 2,000 workers.

100%

Labour market realities 2018

Opportunism Amidst Uncertainty



With Brexit, there is a real danger that if we are not trading with Europe, there will be competition with even cheaper labour. Trade Union Official - Graphical, Paper, Media & IT





Brexit is having a significant impact on the industry… and has resulted in sustained attacks and cuts to terms and conditions… cuts to holiday and unsocial payments, intensified working patterns… Brexit will only intensify this process, at the same time as enabling companies to withhold capital investment due to market uncertainty. Trade Union Official - Food, Drink and Agriculture



As CLASS work has previously stated, any future trade deals must undergo parliamentary scrutiny and put workers’ rights and livelihoods at the centre of the debate69. This is particularly important given that our economy is already severely lacking investment as previously outlined in this report, this had severe repercussions for workers. In 2016, the UK ranked 118th in the world for public and private investment and was the fifth lowest among European countries70.



One of the bottling plants in Fyfe, they announced 110 job losses down to restructuring because of Brexit and you’ll have heard about Nestle in Yorkshire putting the Blue Ribbon jobs out… and as I say this is just the trickle before the flood I think. Trade Union Official - Manufacturing



Understanding Today’s labour market  35

With much still to be decided on the terms of Brexit, it is hard to make concrete assertions about any future impact. However, as our poll has shown, a large proportion of the working population is of the opinion that leaving the European Union will have a negative impact in terms of workers’ rights and public investment. Interviews with trade union officials largely reiterated these concerns:

Understanding Today’s labour market  36

Labour market realities 2018

Pic: BDUK Cumbria Whitehaven6

It has got to the stage where half of psychological professionals report feeling like failures and a similar amount report depression.

Labour market realities 2018





Ensuring that Brexit does not exacerbate these trends is an absolute necessity of workers are going to see an increase in their living standards over the coming years. Following the recommendations outlined in the final part of the report would help alleviate some of tehse pressures now and into the future.

Understanding Today’s labour market  37

We’ve heard a few examples from members of employers saying: ‘We can’t meet your pay demand or give you an above inflation pay raise because of Brexit’, or ‘The bonus you previously received at Christmas will be smaller this year because of Brexit’. Some of it will be employers trying to respond to uncertainty, and some will be cynical opportunism. Trade Union Official - Across Sectors

Labour market realities 2018

Recommendations  38

Section 4

Recommendations As this report has outlined, workers across the UK economy are facing unprecedented stresses and struggles. An economy that is only delivering for one in four workers is an economy that is fundamentally failing. This section will outline some key policy recommendations and interventions to alleviate some of the pressures that workers are under. However, given the scale of the problem there is no silver bullet. At such a critical time in our country’s history, it is time for a radical rethink. As such, it is necessary to address much larger issues that relate to the wellbeing of workers and challenge assumptions about the purpose of the UK economy. The following recommendations start with five small steps that would close loopholes, fairly reward work and promote employee wellbeing. These, however, are insufficient to bring about the more fundamental changes required in the UK labour market. The two big steps – ending public spending cuts and transitioning towards sectoral collective bargaining – remain economic and social necessities.

The Small Steps Changing the Goal from ‘More Jobs’ to ‘More and Better Jobs’ This report has revealed the often ugly face of the UK economy. In pursuit of record employment, the need for decent, well-paid jobs has been side-lined. There is an increasing body of research that demonstrates the pitfalls of bad jobs for workers’ physical and mental health.71 This, however, is lost in mainstream debates that remain fixated on employment rates. In light of this report, a more holistic approach to employment is desperately needed. Mainstreaming job quality in public policy would be a welcome step in the right direction.

The OECD’s recently developed Job Quality Index72 speaks perfectly to many of the malaises in the UK labour market. Their three main components – earnings quality, which looks at the average and distribution of earnings; labour market security, which focuses on the risk of job loss and the associated costs for workers and quality of the work environment, which incorporates employee stress and worker autonomy – should all play an important role in assessing our labour market performance. Such measures should be introduced and reported alongside employment statistics on regular basis.

Workers on Boards If we want to improve working conditions and secure fair pay, promoting the voices of workers is an essential step. Introducing workers on boards has huge potential, but as with any policy proposals to promote workers’ voices, tokenism is a risk and the devil is in the detail. A recent CLASS report73 exploring the role of workers on boards (WOBs) found that not only were they able to impact pay and conditions for fellow workers, but influence pay decisions for senior managers. This could be a crucial first step to changing a culture of pay that sees workers struggling to make ends meet while top bosses earn the average UK salary in three working days.74 Our research also underlined the essential role of trade unions in making WOBs work for workers without trade union involvement, the role risks becoming tokenistic and the role holder ill equipped to challenge decision making at the top – and the importance of putting checks in place to protect WOBs from conflicts of interest, including introducing whistleblowing protections.

Create a Real Living Wage Commission There is a need for much more ambition from public policy in assisting the transition to a high-pay, high-skill society. In this regard, replacing the Low Pay Commission with a Real Living Wage Commission would help incentivise higher wages and move beyond a culture of low-pay. Such a step, in tandem with the others outlined here, would also stem the divergence between continued economic growth and the stagnant real wages of the UK working population. Eliminating the current barriers for those aged under 25 to access such a living wage would boost the prospects of this group who, as we have seen in this report, are struggling to keep up with basic costs.

Recommendations  39

Labour market realities 2018

Labour market realities 2018

Recommendations  40

Fairly Rewarding Overtime through Legislation While the working population routinely works beyond their contracted hours, the average premium for doing so has been falling.75 Numerous countries across the European Union have policies that entitle workers to extra compensation for over-working. As our research has shown, more than one in four people are regularly staying beyond their hours at work in the United Kingdom and more than half have noticed an increase in employee stress and workload over the past twelve months. Following the example of France,76 wherever possible firms should be required to include hours where staff cannot be contacted. Such a policy change would help to incentivise a working culture that promotes a healthier work-life balance. However, this would not compensate for unpaid or poorly paid overtime. Workers should be contracted for the number of hours they work with a minimum number of hours guaranteed. This doesn’t just mean the abolition of zero-hours contracts; it also means dis-incentivising employers from offering less work than contracted. This could be done by forcing employers to pay a penal rate when workers have less work than contractually stipulated.

Closing Loopholes that Exploit Agency Workers Through pay between assignment contracts as outlined in case study 2, agency workers can be losing out on thousands of pounds in wages annually. Given the huge rise in agency staff across the economy,77 it is important to close loopholes that allow the exploitation of these workers. The loophole, known as the Swedish derogation, permits employees to continue to pay agency staff below the rate of normal employees even after 12 weeks of employment. Original agency worker regulations deem this unlawful.78 The Taylor Review has argued for the abolition of such contracts, yet the response by the Government has fallen short and requested further interrogation into the extent of abuse.79 This is unnecessary, and the contracts should be abolished.

Labour market realities 2018

The Big Steps

As CLASS has previously argued,80 austerity has been an economic and social failure on an unprecedented scale. Yet more cuts are scheduled throughout this government. These cuts were identified by the working population as the biggest threats to their employment and repeatedly highlighted by trade union officials as causing stagnant pay, work intensification and stress. Ending the public sector pay cap will help alleviate the pressures on the public sector workforce and largely pay for itself.81 Undoing the freeze on benefits would also provide a vital lifeline to those at the bottom of the income distribution. Our research has shown that this demographic is most likely to be struggling to make ends meet and other institutions have linked these policies to increases in child poverty82 and foodbank use.83 Moreover, properly funded public services would alleviate pressures in key sectors such as health and education. This is not only placing workers under huge strain but will have a longer, negative impact on the wider economy. Finally, local government is also set for further cuts despite already losing billions throughout years of austerity.84 This opens the door for the provision of public services by private companies which, as the National Audit Office has noted,85 can cost more than the original provision by the public sector.

Transition towards Sectoral Collective Bargaining With the labour share of GDP falling and real wages stagnant, there is an urgent need to end the hostile environment towards trade unions. As the Institute of Employment Rights has advocated in their ‘Manifesto for Labour Law’,86 the reintroduction of sectoral collective bargaining through a new Ministry of Labour would provide a valuable conduit to assess and address the needs of the UK’s 31 million working people. Sectoral collective bargaining would mean workers’ pay and conditions are negotiated through trade unions and employers at the sectoral level. The outcome of which would cover all workers (not just trade union members) in a specific industry. A Ministry of Labour would be further tasked with outlining the levels of investment needed in local economies, diagnosing training and educational needs and supervising labour standards.

Recommendations  41

End Public Spending Cuts

Recommendations 42

Labour market realities 2018

This transition towards collective bargaining as the primary form of standardsetting does not negate the need for legislation. This would, however, take a more secondary role as collective bargaining was rolled out on a multi-employer, sectoral basis. Today, little over 20% of UK workers are covered by some form of collective bargaining. This figure used to be near 80% and across Europe the average is around 60%.87 Such low levels of coverage allow employers a free hand to over-work, under-pay, harm and exploit vulnerable workers. Repealing the Trade Union Act 2016 would be an immediate first step to take. This act was condemned by employment law experts for contravening long-established ILO conventions on freedom of association and the right to organise.88 Overall, there needs to be much greater vision from public policymakers to alleviate ongoing pay struggles. Workers are themselves a key part of the solution, but it is only with a willingness to listen and give space for worker influence that we will see a sustainable shift in the realities of UK’s labour market..

Labour market realities 2018

Technical Appendix

The nineteen semi-structured interviews with trade union officials took place in December 2017 and January 2018 either over the phone or in-person with the author of the report. Responses, where included here, have been anonymised. Finally, supplementary data has been taken from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which is Crown Copyright. The use of ONS data does not imply endorsement on their behalf of the statistical analysis or interpretation present in this report.

Technical Appendix  43

The data in this report is based on a survey carried out on behalf of CLASS by Survation from January 4th to January 6th 2-18. The sample consists of 2,000 working adults (aged 18+, conducted via an online panel, and is weighted to the profile of all working adults aged 18+ by age, sex, region and working status. All analysis was carried out by the author and any errors remain his responsibility.

Labour market realities 2018

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Acknowlegements This report was written and researched by Liam Kennedy, Research Officer at CLASS, with contributions and comments from Faiza Shaheen and Michael Davies. Marjorie Mayo Ines Newman Marjorie Mayo is Emeritus Professor of Ines Newman has a background in town Special thanks to John Earls at Unite the Union, Kam Gill Community Development at Goldsmiths, planning at the Trade Unions Congress, Carolyn Jones and James and local economic development. University of London her research She was Head of Policy at the Local Harrison at the Institutewhere of Employment Rights for providing has included a focus upon learning for Government Information Unit (1999–2007) feedback and suggesting amendments. active citizenship, and access to justice and Principal Research Fellow, Local in disadvantaged communities. Recent Government Centre, Warwick Business Thank you also to Damian Lyons Lowe and Marius Mosoreanu from Survation for their work in(2007–2012). She is currently publications include Access to insight justice and hardSchool preparing the survey.communities (2014) for disadvantaged Visiting Senior Research Associate at De (with G. Koessl, M. Scott and I. Slater). Montfort University. Her book, Reclaiming Report layout by Lester Holloway, Communications and Local Democracy: A progressive future Events Officer at CLASS. for local government, was published by Policy Press in May 2014.

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