Is there evidence that attitudes to work are declining?

Peter Deaves, Acting Head of Policy at the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion, explores this issue in more detail.

A recent report[1]by the Centre for Social Justice think tank claims that the major barrier to tackling Britain’s jobless crisis is ‘poor work attitudes’ amongst young people and the long-term unemployed. A survey of employers they carried out indicated that 62 per cent of employers cite poor work attitude and ethic as the reason why they turn down applications for entry-level jobs.[2]This repeats a common claim by employer groups about poor employability, particularly amongst school-leavers.

However, aside from this employer survey, is there any evidence to back up the claim that attitudes to work are as weak as the CSJ and others, such as the Policy Exchange, have claimed? The answer is not really. In fact, on several measures there is evidence that attitudes are strong and improving.

First, during the recession there was a strong trend towards people working part-time hours when they preferred full-time work. The percentage of part-time workers who were doing so because they ‘could not find a full-time job’ increased from 9.9% in September 2008 to 16.1% in April 2011. Over the same period those in temporary employment looking to work permanently rose sharply from 25.5% to 36.3%. During the previous decade this figure had remained relatively stable around 24-26% on average. Also, labour-force participation (i.e. those working or actively looking for work) held up well compared with previous recessions, when labour force participation fell across all groups. A slight fall in participation can be entirely accounted for by an increase in the number of students.[3]

What these both point to is a high degree of resilience amongst households who responded to the economic shock of the recession by working more flexibly and continuing to look for work, rather than exiting the labour market. One of the CSJ’s key recommendations is for jobseekers to ‘adapt to the changing requirements of the labour market.’ On these measures, it would appear people are doing exactly that already.

In a similar vein, a recent Policy Exchange[4]report has called for stronger conditionality for jobseekers to make sure they commit a ‘full working week’ to job search activities. The report contains the attention-grabbing claim that jobseekers are spending as little as eight minutes a day looking for work. Looking at the source for the claim - a time use data survey[5]- the range of activities in the definition of job search is extraordinarily narrow. It, for example, excludes informally asking for job openings and calling employers and therefore needs to be taken with a massive pinch of salt. During the period of the time use data survey over 2m[6]people left Job Seekers Allowance and moved into work, suggesting that even if jobseekers weren’t searching very long for jobs they were doing it quite effectively.

Changing attitudes to work will always be a part of welfare reform and discovering evidence about where the problems may lie is an important part of finding out what works. However, we must be careful about the evidence we use to develop policy.

Peter Deaves

Acting Head of Policy

peter [dot] deaves [at] cesi [dot] org [dot] uk

[1]Centre for Social Justice (2011) Creating Opportunity, rewarding ambition

[2]NB. The CSJ’s definition of ‘entry-level employment’ is much wider than normally used for example it includes electricians, skilled-engineering workers and plumbers, normally classed as skilled trades.

[3]Bank of England (2011) Understanding labour force participation in the United Kingdom

[4]Mathew Oakley and Peter Saunders (2011) No Rights Without Responsibilities

[5]Krueger & Muller (May 2008) The Lot of the Unemployed: A Time Use Perspective p.25

[6]Data from Nomis