Policy Press
10 Conclusions
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Abstract
This final chapter connects the findings of the research with broader debates, research and theory in respect of work, unemployment, labour markets and welfare. Particular attention is focussed towards the myth of the high skills economy, the growth of underemployment and poor work and the idea that we have witnessed the rise of a new class at the bottom of society – ‘the Precariat’ - characterised by its general insecurity and precarious work opportunities. The final part of the chapter gives a critique of current political and policy approaches that bear on questions of work, welfare and poverty, highlighting their potential to seriously worsen the conditions and prospects of the sort of people whose testimonies provide the backbone of this book. It argues for – and describes - policies that would tackle the insecurity and poverty of low-pay, no-pay Britain, particularly strategies ‘to make bad jobs better’.
Abstract
This final chapter connects the findings of the research with broader debates, research and theory in respect of work, unemployment, labour markets and welfare. Particular attention is focussed towards the myth of the high skills economy, the growth of underemployment and poor work and the idea that we have witnessed the rise of a new class at the bottom of society – ‘the Precariat’ - characterised by its general insecurity and precarious work opportunities. The final part of the chapter gives a critique of current political and policy approaches that bear on questions of work, welfare and poverty, highlighting their potential to seriously worsen the conditions and prospects of the sort of people whose testimonies provide the backbone of this book. It argues for – and describes - policies that would tackle the insecurity and poverty of low-pay, no-pay Britain, particularly strategies ‘to make bad jobs better’.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures and boxes iv
- Acknowledgements v
- Introduction 1
- Poor work, welfare and poverty 11
- Researching the low-pay, no-pay cycle and recurrent poverty 39
- The low-pay, no-pay cycle: the perspectives and practices of employers and ‘welfare to work’ agencies 61
- The low-pay, no-pay cycle: its pattern and people’s commitment to work 79
- Searching for jobs: qualifications, support for the workless and the good and bad of informal social networks 101
- Poor work: insecurity and churning in deindustrialised labour markets 125
- ‘The ties that bind’: ill health and caring and their impact on the low-pay, no-pay cycle 143
- Poverty and social insecurity 167
- Conclusions 193
- References 225
- Index 247
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures and boxes iv
- Acknowledgements v
- Introduction 1
- Poor work, welfare and poverty 11
- Researching the low-pay, no-pay cycle and recurrent poverty 39
- The low-pay, no-pay cycle: the perspectives and practices of employers and ‘welfare to work’ agencies 61
- The low-pay, no-pay cycle: its pattern and people’s commitment to work 79
- Searching for jobs: qualifications, support for the workless and the good and bad of informal social networks 101
- Poor work: insecurity and churning in deindustrialised labour markets 125
- ‘The ties that bind’: ill health and caring and their impact on the low-pay, no-pay cycle 143
- Poverty and social insecurity 167
- Conclusions 193
- References 225
- Index 247
