Insecure work rockets to record levels, says new TUC analysis

The number of people in insecure work has hit a record high of 4.1 million, according to a new TUC analysis — one in eight workers.

Using official figures, the TUC found that insecure forms of work, such as zero hours contracts, low-paid self-employment and casual or seasonal work had risen nearly three times faster than secure forms of employment since 2010.

It accused the Conservative government of “presiding over a ‘race to the bottom’ on employment standards”. Between 2011 and 2023, the number of people in these precarious forms of work rose by nearly one million.

The analysis also revealed “a severe pay penalty”, with people on zero hours contracts earning over a third less an hour (35%), on average than workers on median pay. And it found a stark pay gap between workers in seasonal (-33%) and casual (-37%) work and median earners. “We need a government that will make work pay,” said TUC general secretary Paul Nowak. “But over the last 14 years we have seen an explosion in insecure, low-paid work.”

He called for an end to the Conservatives’ race to the bottom and said that, if delivered in full, Labour’s New Deal “would be a game changer for millions of working people”.

“As well as preventing workers from being treated like throw-away labour it would stop good employers from being undercut by the bad,” he added.