Publications

UK unemployment has risen to its highest in two years this month, from 3.9% in March to 4.1% in September. Young people aged 16-24 have been hit hardest, and July 2020 saw a 122% increase in young people claiming unemployment related benefits, that’s 241,700 more young people since March 2020. To date, one-third of 18-24-year…

In this report, Alan Felstead of Cardiff University and Darja Reuschke of the University of Southampton present new and up-to-date evidence on the scale of the shift of paid work into the home in the UK during lockdown, its impact on the mental well-being and productivity of homeworkers, and the likely prevalence of homeworking after social distancing restrictions are…

In this report, Darja Reuschke of the University of Southampton and Alan Felstead of Cardiff University present findings of their analysis of homeworking during the Coronavirus lockdown. Based upon data collected from approximately 7,000 people via the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS), the report focusses on the effect of the Coronavirus lockdown in the UK on both…

Theory & Struggle 121(1) pp 68-77 This article considers what struggle means for the international garment worker of today. The typical worker will most likely be a woman experiencing exploitative and harsh conditions in a sector where, internationally, employers generally seek to crush independent trade unionism. The article briefly reviews the garment industry’s history, including advances…

This statistical annex accompanies the blog post: Are there Differences in Volunteering in Health and Social Care and Responses to the Coronavirus in England and Wales? This is part of WISERD’s Covid-10 blog series.

Innovation is traditionally viewed as an activity which involves a small band of highly skilled workers. By examining the results of a British survey of employees, this article breaks with this approach. It makes two distinctive contributions. First, it provides new insights into the extent to which employees of all kinds come up with ideas…

British Journal of Industrial Relations, 58(4): 904-935. Innovation is traditionally viewed as an activity which involves a small band of highly skilled workers. By examining the results of a British survey of employees, this article breaks with this approach. It makes two distinctive contributions. First, it provides new insights into the extent to which employees…

This article presents new British evidence that suggests that cutting working hours at short notice is twice as prevalent as zero-hours contracts and triple the number of employees are very anxious about unexpected changes to their hours of work. The pay of these employees tends to be lower, work intensity higher, line management support weaker…

This article uses data from the Labour Force Survey to examine the effect sexual orientation has on wages in Britain. In doing so it provides the first empirical investigation of the effect being in a same-sex legal partnership has on wages. The results show that gay cohabitees and lesbians face a wage premium compared to…

This article explores a historic rural craft tradition as the focus of economic development through the valorisation of the local cultural heritage, or culture economy. The case‐study traces the revival of bamboo birdcage making in Da’ou village in Shandong Province, where the craft knowledge of making birdcages once prized by the Chinese imperial court has…