Self-employment has fallen sharply in the UK during the Covid-19 crisis but the extent differs across regions. In the past, it has often risen in recessions and declined in booms. The limited government support for the self-employed may explain the drop during the pandemic. The number of self-employed individuals dropped markedly during the pandemic. There […]
Category: Jobs, work, pay & benefits
The employment rates of people in their 50s and 60s have risen over the past few decades, partly due to increases in the UK’s state pension age. But since the pandemic, employment rates for these age groups have fallen, as many have moved into early retirement. There have been large changes in patterns of employment […]
Under the UK’s new immigration system, migrants from the European Union face more restrictive rules than those from the rest of the world. The effects on overall migration numbers may be limited, but the skills and sectoral mix of migrants may look substantially different. The UK introduced a new immigration system on 1 January 2021, […]
The increase in zero-hour contracts and the emergence of the gig economy over the past decade have raised concerns that working life is becoming less secure. Evidence suggests that while the share of workers experiencing insecure work has not gone up, some groups are more at risk. In the past two decades, at least one […]
It is widely accepted that minimum wages are an effective way to help workers at the lower end of the income distribution without damaging their job opportunities. But while the UK’s minimum wage has risen faster than the rate of inflation over the past two decades, it is now falling behind. The UK – like […]
The Covid-19 outbreak led to a rapid shift to working from home in many occupations. The change may have a negative impact on productivity, but this ignores workers’ perceptions and effects on their wellbeing. Covid-19 changed how many people work. During the pandemic, there was a rapid move towards working from home (WFH) in many […]
A year into the Covid-19 crisis, it is widely recognised that the UK’s self-employed workers have been among the hardest hit. Survey evidence shows that the latest lockdown is once again leaving the self-employed with lower incomes and substantially reduced hours. Becoming self-employed allows workers to enjoy the flexibility of being ‘their own boss’. But […]
Since the start of the crisis, opportunities for some gig economy workers have grown, especially in deliveries – but expansion has not been uniform. A recent court ruling that Uber drivers should not be classed as self-employed may further affect this part of the labour market. The potential short- and long-term effects of the pandemic […]
While headline figures for wages have recently suggested rapid growth, average settlements are 2-3% – and pay is certainly not going up as fast as consumer prices. Real wages are only likely to rise if either productivity growth accelerates or workers have greater bargaining power. Wage growth has varied dramatically during the pandemic. Low-wage sectors […]
Across the country, there are big variations in the share of employees who report normally working from home, reflecting regional differences in the kinds of jobs that are available. This has profound implications for local economies, including retail, transport and housing. Prior to Covid-19, fewer than 6% of employees in the UK reported that they […]