Measure of job quality
The TUC has introduced a Jobs Quality Index to measure the effects of real wage levels and under-employment, such as working part-time when a full-time job is wanted. It also compares average earnings growth with RPI inflation.
Since the recession, job quality measured in this way has slumped and the index hasn’t risen again as employment has started to rise.
Although employment rates and job quality more or less “track” each other for most of the time, the link has broken down. While the employment rate is back to its 2009 level (but still someway short of its pre-recession level) job quality has remained close to a 20-year low.
This pattern raises “serious questions” about the kind of recovery we are experiencing because it is vital that the recovery doesn’t just create “any old jobs”, but the right kind of employment, with decent pay rises for all.