Principal Analyst at the Work Foundation and PhD student at QMUL. Interested in labour market insecurity, health & data. Also: @ rebeccaflorisson.bsky.social
📝New research
🚨A near record 2.78m people are out of the labour market due to ill-health in the UK.
Our latest briefing shows how Government & employers can work together to help retain more people in work when they face health issues. (1/10)
🔗lancaster.ac.uk/work-foundat…
ALT Figure showing the change in economic inactivity due to long-term sickness in the UK, for people aged 16 to 64 years old, thousands.
Great to be quoted in the @BigIssue yesterday on the increase in the NMW for 18-20 year olds by £1.40 an hour.
Young workers are twice as likely as other workers to be in insecure work + bear the brunt of higher living costs such as rising rents.
tinyurl.com/mrxy4sn2
Some mixed messages from Gov in today's #Budget2024 about making work pay.
- National living and minimum wage is going up come April, which will boost pay for about 1.6m workers.
- At the same time, tax thresholds remain frozen until 2028/29, so for the next few years...
... some workers will still be dragged onto higher tax rates.
-Also: employer's national insurance contributions are going up and the @OBR_UK expects that 60% (!) of these costs will be passed on through lower wages and higher prices.
Ahead of the #AutumnBudget, our Principal Analyst @RFlorisson commented on the Government's announcement on the National Living Wage rise:
“It is positive news for low paid workers that the National Living Wage will rise by 6.7% in April 2025. (1/7)
The trailed 6% increase for the national minimum wage (NMW) ahead of tomorrow's budget is generally good news for workers. It's above inflation & aligns with average growth in earnings over the past year. independent.co.uk/news/uk/po…
Really looking forward to being part of this discussion @WorkFoundation - the costs of insecure work are monumental for workers, businesses and policymakers – so we should have a shared interest in putting this right!
ALT No Progress? Tackling long-term insecure work
14.00-15.00 Tuesday 29 October Online
In the UK, one in five workers are in severely insecure work – facing a mix of low pay, unpredictable hours, poor protections, and limited career progression. Insecurity is more likely to affect certain worker groups including women, people from ethnic minorities, disabled workers, and young people.
The Labour Government has come to power facing the same challenge as its predecessor; how do you grow the size of the UK workforce and support people to sustain employment, improve living standards, and support economic growth?
Join the Work Foundation at Lancaster University to explore new longitudinal research which analyses the impact that the quality of work has on long-term employment outcomes.
🧵 4,000 homeless families are being banned from social housing because they have debt. Exclusive Freedom of Information requests shared with me for @theipaper show. This is shocking for several reasons trib.al/4LOoGqy
📢Join us next Tuesday (29 October, 14.00-15.00) as we explore new longitudinal research which analyses the impact that the quality of work has on long-term employment outcomes. ⬇️
🎟️eventbrite.co.uk/e/no-progre…
ALT No Progress? Tackling long-term insecure work
14.00-15.00 Tuesday 29 October Online
In the UK, one in five workers are in severely insecure work – facing a mix of low pay, unpredictable hours, poor protections, and limited career progression. Insecurity is more likely to affect certain worker groups including women, people from ethnic minorities, disabled workers, and young people.
The Labour Government has come to power facing the same challenge as its predecessor; how do you grow the size of the UK workforce and support people to sustain employment, improve living standards, and support economic growth?
Join the Work Foundation at Lancaster University to explore new longitudinal research which analyses the impact that the quality of work has on long-term employment outcomes.
Great coverage of new @NEF analysis by @Sam_Tims arguing that the debate about the two-child limit is failing to recognise the wider economic benefits of scrapping the policy
Alleviating poverty, particularly for children, should be seen as a sound investment - here's why... 🧵
ALT Headlines from the Independent and Mirror about NEF's new analysis on the two-child limit
1/6: 🧵This month’s @ONS labour market data is fairly stable: employment up to 75%, unemployment down to 4%, and inactivity at 21.8%. But beneath the surface, there are areas of concern, particularly for young workers and those in low paid and insecure jobs. @WorkFoundation
5/5: we need real enforcement to ensure wage growth reaches workers. Underpayment of minimum wage remains a serious issue, with nearly one in four (!!!) (23.6%) of minimum wage workers being shortchanged.
6/6: The new Fair Work Agency could be a game-changer, improving enforcement across and between areas. But without more resources, impact may be limited. Better monitoring and funding are essential to ensure workers get their rightful pay and protections. lancaster.ac.uk/work-foundat…
The work capability assessment is not working and needs to be reformed or replaced. But not if it simply makes it harder for those most in need of help to access the benefits they need. It then simply becomes a 1.3bn cut to benefits for disabled people. theguardian.com/society/2024…
DWP published over 30 papers last week that the last Government had held back, incl. one which showed that some on legacy benefits did not claim UC because of the pressure of work search requirements. Migration onto UC to be completed by April 2025 - key that Gov fix the system.
Disabled people who receive any kind of tax credits will only have until next April to transfer onto universal credit, the Department for Work and Pensions confirmed this week.
#DWPbuff.ly/3NjyYBE