Work-time underemployment and financial hardship: class inequalities and recession in the UK

Abstract

The economic crisis that led to recession in the UK in 2008-9 impacted in multiple ways on work and economic life. This article examines changes to the work-time of employees. The UK stood out for its recessionary expansion of work-time underemployment. Working in a job that provides 'too few' hours can have serious ramifications for the economic livelihood of workers. Working-class workers are central here. Drawing on analysis of large-scale survey data, the article identifies that workers in lower level occupations experienced the most substantial postrecessionary growth in the proportions working 'too few' hours. Did these work-time changes narrow or widen class inequalities in feelings of financial hardship? The article concludes that although middle-class workers also saw their financial positions damaged, this so-called 'first middle-class recession' did not erode class inequalities in financial hardship among UK workers.

Gender segregation, underemployment and subjective well-being in the UK labour market

“…In addition, a fulltime job, especially in the UK context, often means not only more working hours but is also a substantially different experience from part-time work; for example, full-time employees usually have better quality working conditions (e.g. Connolly and Gregory, 2008Gregory, , 2009Grant et al, 2005;Hoque and Kirkpatrick, 2003;Olsen et al, 2010;Thornley, 2007;Warren, 2015). Therefore we expect that underemployment in our study would have stronger associations with subjective well-being than in the other two studies.…”

“…As underemployment levels among women are increasing faster than among men, women are more likely to experience negative individual consequences of involuntary part-time work, such as short and long-term financial hardship and insecurity (Maynard and Feldman, 2011;McKee-Ryan, 2013) and the negative outcomes of part-time work, namely less access to training, a part-time wage penalty, financial hardship, occupational downgrading (being employed below their potential) and a lower likelihood of promotion (e.g. Connolly and Gregory, 2008Gregory, , 2009Grant et al, 2005;Hoque and Kirkpatrick, 2003;Olsen et al, 2010;Thornley, 2007;Warren, 2015). If the government wants to maintain or increase subjective well-being at work such employment practices should be limited, or policies developed to support the lowest-paid and most vulnerable in society (Stuckler and Basu, 2013).…”

A stalled revolution? What can we learn from women’s drop-out to part-time jobs: A comparative analysis of Germany and the UK

“…Official statistics show that the vast majority of part-time workers are voluntary (more than 88 percent in the case of Germany, and more than 86 percent in the case of the UK; OECD, 2016). We are aware though that part-time work is not always entered voluntarily -especially in times of economic crisis (Warren, 2015). Finally, as noted above, part-time work is also heterogeneous in the number of hours worked.…”

Work, employment and society sans frontières: extending and deepening our reach

“…Zero-hours contracts covered only 2.3 per cent of the UK workforce (697,000 people) in 2014 (ONS, 2015), but they have become an entrenched form of employment relationship, particularly in sectors such as hospitality, food services and education (ONS, 2015). Moreover, there has been rapid growth in underemployment with the use of contracts with very low or no guaranteed hours (see, for example, Warren, 2015). Both zero-hours contracts and mini-jobs are relevant to the wider issue of lower-skilled workers not being able to work their desired hours.…”