The Augar report on post-18 learning has been long awaited. The first government sponsored review of higher education since Robbins, it’s two hundred or so pages were published in the week the Prime Minister who commissioned it resigned and as universities start to wind down, or at least lose their students for the summer. Perhaps … Continue reading Review of Post -18 Education and Funding. First impressions
Low Pay Britain
Published earlier this week, the Resolution Foundation's Low Pay Britain charts the success of the Minimum Wage (now officially called the National Living Wage) in reducing inequality at the bottom of the labour market. A record two million workers - 7.3 per cent, now depend on the legal minimum wage, covering around 1.6 million jobs. … Continue reading Low Pay Britain
Will young people be voting on Thursday?
Traditional relationships between class and voting behaviour are not what they used to be. This week’s Euro-election will, it seems, only confirm this, with Labour desperately trying to unite ‘pro-Brexit’ traditional northern working-class supporters with recent converts – the more affluent socially progressive but staunchly pro-European voters of London and the south. Despite the excessive … Continue reading Will young people be voting on Thursday?
Labour’s £10 minimum wage for under 18s could be part of a real ‘new deal’ for young people.
Jeremy Corbyn’s commitment to include under 18s in Labour’s £10 an hour minimum wage is to be welcomed. As the Labour leader made clear “Equal pay for equal work” is hardly a controversial idea. Under Labour, the hourly pay of workers aged 16 and 17 would more than double. At present, workers under the age … Continue reading Labour’s £10 minimum wage for under 18s could be part of a real ‘new deal’ for young people.
Can you ever be ‘overeducated’?
New ONS data shows a third of graduates with more education that is required for the work they were doing 2017. This shouldn’t surprise anybody. Many other studies have reached similar conclusions. What is significant is that rather than focusing on those that have left university in the last few months (many of whom will … Continue reading Can you ever be ‘overeducated’?
Forward to the 4 day week?
The decision by science charity Wellcome not to go ahead with its plan to trial a 4-day week for 800 head office staff because it would be too 'operationally complex', goes against the evidence ( including a major New Zealand study) that 4-day working, without a loss of pay improves productivity, staff motivation, not to … Continue reading Forward to the 4 day week?
One in twelve jobs at ‘high risk’ from automation
Way back in the 1930s, the economist Keynes raised concerns about what he called ‘technological unemployment’ now referred to as ‘worker displacement’. According to Frey and Osborne’s 2013 Oxford study, as many as 47% of current US jobs are at risk of automation, while a 2016 OECD study estimated the figure at just 9%. The … Continue reading One in twelve jobs at ‘high risk’ from automation
