Labour market disadvantage

With unemployment high, there is a critical need to consider the labour market. Our work addresses experiences of labour market disadvantage of both those in employment – for example those in low-wage work and those in the low-pay/no-pay cycle – and among those who are workless.

Individual labour market experiences are strongly influenced by a range of socio-demographic factors. They are also shaped by geography and the availability of work opportunities nearby. Our work aims to explore both the root causes of labour market disadvantage and to develop the policy solutions to address these.

We are currently running two consortium programmes:

• The bottom ten million – a two-year programme that investigates the challenges faced by those working in low-wage jobs and those looking for employment.
• The missing million – a two-year solutions-focused programme aiming to develop a series of policy measures that can help address the current problem of high youth unemployment; and to look at ways in which the UK can develop a longer-term model for low levels of youth unemployment.

In addition to these we are also currently undertaking work focused on employment polarisation in cities and on temporal and spatial patterns of young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs).