British Labour Market Research Articles

The value of basic skills in the British labour market

In this paper we evaluate the labour market value of basic skills in the UK, focusing on the wage and employment returns to having better literacy and numeracy skills. We draw on literacy and numeracy assessments undertaken by all cohort members of the UK 1970 British Cohort Study. The data used are very rich and allow us to account for potential ability bias, including as they do early childhood assessments of ability. We find that the literacy and numeracy effects on earnings are over and above any general effect on earnings from a person being more cognitively able. We also assess whether the value of basic skills, in terms of wage returns, has increased over time, using a cross cohort analysis based on the 1958 National Child Development Study cohort and the 1970 British Cohort Study. Our results show that literacy and numeracy skills retained their high value in the labour market over the period 1995-2004, despite numerous policy attempts to increase the supply of basic skills during this period.

The changing distribution of earnings in Ireland, 1937 to 1968

Data from the Irish Census of Industrial Production are used to illuminate changes in the distribution of earnings from 1937 to 1968, an important period in Irish economic history, relevant to debates about globalization and inequality. Between the late 1930s and mid‐1950s there was a greater compression of earnings than in the US's ‘great compression’ of the same period. Sectoral data suggest that this occurred quite generally. The degree of integration with the British labour market is key, and the impact of out‐migration, wage controls during the Second World War, and industrial protection all merit in‐depth investigation.

Working Part-Time in the British, German and Dutch Labour Market: Scarring for the Wage Career?

The paper studies the long-term effect of part-time employment on the wage career using panel data for three countries. The main idea is to study the possible ‘scarring’ effects of part-time employment on future hourly wages up to ten years later in the career. Fixed effects panel wage regressions show the existence of a part-time wage penalty for females in all three countries and for males in the UK. Longer durations of part-time result in stronger negative wage effects. In the UK, a negative effect of past part-time employment is also found to persist even after a lasting transition to a fulltime job. The fact that the effect of part-time on wage is larger in the UK suggests that wage penalties, contrary to what could be expected, are smaller in regulated labour markets with a specific skills regime. <italic>JEL Classifications: J31, J62, J22, J24</italic>

Seniority, experience, and wages in the UK

This paper uses BHPS data to investigate the relative importance of seniority and experience in determining male wages in the UK labor market. Using both the Altonji and Shakotko instrumental variable and the Topel two-step estimation approaches, I find that for all male workers, tenure plays a modest role, increasing wages by about 1% each year over the first 10 years on the job. General labor market experience has a larger role, so that after 30 years wages have increased by about 60%. Individual and job match heterogeneity are important, and should be carefully modeled when estimating wage equations for the British labor market. These results are remarkably similar to the most recent evidence about these relationships in the US labor market. After extending the standard model to include industry and occupation experience, the estimated impact of job seniority becomes negligible for nonunion workers. Instead, the wages of nonunion workers rise because of the accumulation of general and sector-specific experience. The wages of union workers are still found to increase with job seniority over the first ten years with their employer, suggesting that if seniority matters for wages it is only for union workers.

Minority ethnic men in British labour market (1972‐2005)

PurposeThis paper seeks to investigate ethnic disadvantages in the UK labour market in the last three decades. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on data from the most authoritative government surveys, the gross and net differences in employment status and class position between minority ethnic and White British men covering 34 years (1972‐2005) are analysed.FindingsWhite British and White Other men were generally advantaged in employment and in access to professional and managerial (salariat) jobs. White Irish men were making steady progress, and have now caught up with the White British. Black men were much more likely to be unemployed in recession years but progress is discernible with Black Caribbeans approaching, and Black Africans frequently outperforming, the White British in gaining access to the salariat. Indian and Chinese men were behind the White British in employment but little different in access to the salariat. Pakistani/Bangladeshi men were most disadvantaged in both respects.Originality/valueThis is the most systematic research in this area so far, using the most authoritative data and covering such a long period.

Broadcasting and the Problem of Enforced Leisure during the 1930s

For many people during the early 20th century, leisure was not a voluntary expression of one’s spare time, but rather a consequence of mass, long‐term unemployment caused by a global economic recession. In the context of the British labour market, millions of workers in the 1930s were the hapless casualties of what was commonly described at the time as ‘enforced leisure’. For these people, the relatively recent advancements in disposable income, leisure and social facilities, and living standards were of little relevance, in that they were forced to spend much of their time on the periphery of what were for most people everyday social activities. Drawing on Foucauldian theories of governmentality and archival research, this paper examines the ways in which early broadcasting sought to police the problem of enforced leisure and its perceived effects by rendering the experience and behaviour of the unemployed more governable.

The emotional costs of caring incurred by men and women in the British labour market

This study investigates whether men and women in caring occupations experience more negative job-related feelings at the end of the day compared to the rest of the working population. The data are from Wave Nine of the British Household Panel Survey (1999) where respondents were asked whether, at the end of the working day, they tended to keep worrying or have trouble unwinding, and the extent to which work left them feeling exhausted or “used up.” Their responses to these questions were used to develop ordinal dependent variables. Control variables in the models include: number of children, age, hours worked per week, managerial responsibilities and job satisfaction, all of which have been shown in previous research to be significantly related to “job burnout.” The results are that those in caring occupations are more likely to feel worried, tense, drained and exhausted at the end of the working day. Women in particular appear to pay a high emotional cost for working in caring occupations. Men do not emerge unscathed, but report significantly lower levels of worry and exhaustion at the end of the day than do women.

Women and Work after the Second World War: A Case Study of the Jute Industry, Circa 1945-1954

This article examines the attempts by the Dundee jute industry to recruit women workers in the years circa 1945-1954. It locates its discussion of these attempts in the literature on the impact of the Second World War on the participation of women in the British labour market more generally, and the forces determining that participation. It stresses the peculiarities of jute as a traditional major employer of women operating in very specific market conditions, but suggests that this case study throws light on the broader argument about the impact of war and early post-war conditions on women's participation in paid work.

Part-time Employment Can Be a Life-Time Setback for Earnings: A Study of British Women 1975-2001

Two particular features of the position of women in the British labour market are the extensive role of part-time work and the large part-time pay penalty. Part-time work features most prominently when women are in their 30s, the peak childcare years and, particularly for more educated women, a crucial period for career building. This makes it essential to understand its impact on women’s subsequent earnings trajectories. We find that the wage return to part-time experience is low – negligible in lower skill occupations. Even more important channels contributing to the pay disadvantage of women working part-time are job changing, particularly when this involves occupational downgrading. Downgrading can lead to a permanent pay disadvantage for women following a spell in part-time work.

Disability, gender, and the British labour market

Using UK LFS data, we examine the impact of disability on labour market outcomes by gender since the Disability Discrimination Act. Substantial differences in employment incidence and earnings continue to exist, especially for those with mental health problems. Distinguishing between work-limiting and non-work-limiting disability, the unobserved productivity effect of disability can be separated from discrimination. Limited evidence of wage discrimination against the disabled exists, but the 'penalty' for work-limiting disability, while falling for men, has increased for women. The improvement for disabled males is largely 'unexplained', possibly reflecting the impact of the legislation; this is not the case for females. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.

Balancing move and work: women's labour market exits and entries after family migration

AbstractA substantial literature has examined the nature of mobility and migration and the link to workforce participation. In general that literature has documented the disadvantages to women who move or migrate with a partner during the mobility or migration process, but it suggests, especially for the US, that the disadvantage is temporarily limited. This study of the same process in the British labour market reaffirms a temporary deficit‐effect of two‐worker migration for women, but unlike the US labour market the process of re‐entry seems slower. There are modest monetary gains from mobility and migration, but these gains come for some families only when women enter the labour force after migration. The study reconfirms the importance of gender in the migration and mobility processes. Income, for women, recovers more slowly if a birth was registered in the migration interval. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Immigrants in the British Labour Market*

AbstractThe main objective of this paper is to provide a comprehensive description of the economic outcomes and performance of Britain's immigrant communities today and over the last two decades. We distinguish between males and females and, where possible and meaningful, between immigrants of different origins. Our comparison group is white British‐born individuals. Our data source is the British Labour Force Survey. We first provide descriptive information on the composition of immigrants in Britain, and how this has changed over time, their socio‐economic characteristics, their industry allocation and their labour market outcomes. We then investigate various labour market performance indicators (labour force participation, employment, wages and self‐employment) for immigrants of different origins, and compare them with British‐born whites of the same age, region and other background characteristics. We find that over the last 20 years, Britain's immigrant population has changed in origin composition and has dramatically improved in skill composition — not dissimilar from the trend in the British‐born population. We find substantial differences in economic outcomes between white and ethnic minority immigrants. Within these groups, immigrants of different origins differ considerably with respect to their education and age structure, their regional distribution and their sector choice. In general, white immigrants are more successful in Britain, although there are differences between groups of different origins. The investigation shows that immigrants from some ethnic minority groups, and in particular females, are particularly disadvantaged, with Pakistanis and Bangladeshis at the lower end of this scale.

The Impact of Immigration on the British Labour Market

Using data from the British Labour Force Survey this article provides an empirical investigation of the way immigration affects labour market outcomes of native born workers in Britain, set beside a theoretical discussion of the underlying economic mechanisms. We discuss problems arising in empirical estimation, and how to address them. We show that the overall skill distribution of immigrants is remarkably similar to that of the native born workforce. We find no strong evidence that immigration has overall effects on aggregate employment, participation, unemployment and wages but some differences according to education.

Disability, work, and welfare

This article engages with debates relating to social policy and disabled people’s exclusion from the British labour market. Drawing on recent developments from within the disabled people’s movement, in particular, the concept of independent living and the social model of disability, and the associated disability studies literature, a critical evaluation of orthodox sociological theories of work, unemployment, and under-employment in relation to disabled people’s exclusion from the workplace is provided. It is argued that hitherto, analyses of work and disability have failed to address in sufficient depth or breadth the various social and environmental barriers that confront disabled people. It is suggested therefore that a reconfiguration of the meaning of work for disabled people - drawing on and commensurate with disabled people’s perspectives as expressed by the philosophy of independent living - and a social model analysis of their oppression is needed and long overdue.

Low pay, higher pay and job quality: empirical evidence for Portugal

This paper examines to what extent low pay jobs can be considered of low quality. For this purpose, we use three waves (1997–1999) of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) for Portugal. The results indicate that low pay workers report a lower level of job satisfaction when compared with their higher paid counterparts. Moreover, some of the determinants of job satisfaction differ between these two types of workers. This supports the idea that low wage employment mainly comprises low quality jobs and is consistent with the segmented labour market theory, which claims the existence of good and bad jobs. This is, however, at odds with some empirical evidence recently reported for the British labour market where low pay individuals report a higher level of satisfaction, which is more in line with the notion that these workers obtain compensating differences in the form of non-pecuniary benefits.

Born in Britain: How are native ethnic minorities faring in the British labour market?

In spite of the 40 years that have passed since legislation was first introduced to combat racial discrimination, British-born ethnic minorities fare little better than their immigrant parents in the UK labour market.

The adaptation of hospitality and retail firms to the NMW: a focus on the impact of age-related clauses

A lower national minimum wage for 18- to 21-year-olds and the exclusion of all workers under 18 prompted fears of a distortion in the British labour market and an undermining of training initiatives. Empirical data collected from employers in two low paying sectors, revealing the full utilisation of young workers and under-utilisation of training initiatives, ensure these fears are not justified and that the government's basis for the lower rate cannot be substantiated.

Resolving Gender Pay Inequality? Rationales, Enforcement and Policy

It is increasingly argued that models of Corporate Governance can be seen as an effective substitute for conventional state-centred social policy. This article examines the extent to which these contemporary business-led approaches are successful in remedying the gendered pay gap in the British labour market, using the latest Cabinet Office review on women's employment and pay in Britain: the Kingsmill Review, as its central example. The article outlines Kingsmill's recommendations and then analyses their efficacy by means of a ‘snap-shot’ case study of a large employing organisation which was identified as a ‘model employer’ by the Review and which has adopted many exemplary employment practices: the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The article employs analysis of a major original new data set to establish both the successes and limitations of these recommendations in overcoming the gender pay gap within the BBC.

Importing Workfare: Policy Transfer of Social and Labour Market Policies from the USA to Britain under New Labour

Abstract Britain's New Labour government has put welfare reform at the top of its political agenda. It has followed a radical “workfare” agenda in relation to labour and social market policies and no longer aims to secure full employment mainly through direct job creation or Keynesian demand management. Instead, it promotes equal opportunity for all based on a contract between benefits claimants and the employment service. The New Deal is at the heart of British activation programmes for the unemployed. American policy paradigms have influenced the design of the New Deal. Policy transfer in activation policies from the USA to Britain is due to institutional similarities in British and American welfare states on the one hand, and to the comparable structure of their labour markets on the other hand. The influence of the European social model on British labour market policies thus remains limited.

Constraints and Choices in Mothers' Employment careers: a Consideration of Hakim's Preference Theory

This paper provides an empirical examination of women's work histories following a first birth, their sex-role attitudes, and the relationship between attitudes and work history. In the light of these analyses, the aptness of Preference Theory as an explanation for the position of women in the British labour market is considered. Addressed in particular is Hakim's argument that the main determinant of women's heterogeneous employment patterns and work histories is heterogeneity in their preferences for differing combinations of family work and paid employment. Although support is found for Hakim's argument that employment careers are centrally important for only a minority of women, little evidence is adduced that it is preferences that distinguish the minority from the majority. The existence of a continuum of work-family preferences means that women with similar preferences (but differing capacities for overcoming constraints) will have very different labour market careers. Analysis of longitudinal data fails to support the central argument of Preference Theory that women in Britain and North America (countries where women live 'in the new scenario') have genuine, unconstrained choices about how they wish to live their lives. Instead, it is argued that a complete explanation of women's labour market choices after childbirth, and of the outcomes of those choices, depends as much on understanding the constraints that differentially affect women as it does on understanding their personal preferences.