In the UK the employment rate has hit record highs over the last few years and yet the quality of these jobs is called into question, given the rises in in-work poverty, underemployment, and insecure work. Employment no longer means secure, well-paid work. Despite a wealth of evidence around the growth of in-work poverty and poor-quality work, ‘work as a route out of poverty’ has become a mantra of the Conservative government, with UK poverty policy especially focused on ending ‘workless families’. The government has embedded ‘work-first’ approaches to active labour market policy, where employment services are centred on rapid job entry over supporting people into good jobs.

This lecture will draw together findings from two research projects. Firstly, the Underemployment Project, which was a mixed-methods study examining the different dimensions, prevalence, causes, and consequences of underemployment. Secondly, ‘Welfare-to-work at the street-level and in the household’, a PhD study on how Universal Credit’s active labour market policies are realised in practice. By drawing on these different projects, we will explore the lived experience of underemployed workers and challenges for employment services in the UK, to lend further evidence to the limitations of work as a route out of poverty.

Speakers

• Professor Vanessa Beck is Professor in Employment Studies at the University of Bristol’s Business School, and currently working on the ESRC-funded Underemployment Project: “A sociological investigation of underemployment and the lived experiences of underemployed workers" (see https://underemployment.info). She is interested in individuals and groups at the margins of the labour market, including those who are unemployed or underemployed, and who experience multiple and complex barriers to (decent) employment.
• Dr Levana Magnus is a Research Associate at the University of Bristol’s Business School, currently working on the Underemployment Project. Levana recently completed her PhD at the University of Bath, which explored how UK’s active labour market polices are experienced and enacted in public (the Jobcentre) and private (the household) spaces. Her research draws on qualitative approaches to explore the lived experiences of social inequality, welfare reform, and active labour market policy.

This lecture will be introduced by Professor David Gordon, Director of the Bristol Poverty Institute, who will also chair a Q&A after the speakers’ presentations.

The resources from the event are available using the links below.

Dr Lauren Winch 

Introduction to Work as a Route Out of Poverty (PDF, 978kB)

Professor David Gordon

Dismantling work as a route out of poverty Prof D Gordon (PDF, 1,122kB)​

Professor Vanessa Beck & Dr Levana Magnus

Beck & Magnus Dismantling work as a route out of poverty (PDF, 1,471kB)