IEA Featured Publications
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J. R. Shackleton
15 December 2020
Research
Should the government care?
Summary Self-employed workers have lost out badly during the pandemic. Their numbers have so far fallen more sharply than the numbers of employees. There is evidence that government assistance has been poorly targeted: over half of the self-employed have received no help. The Chancellor has hinted that, in return for the assistance the government has ...
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J. R. Shackleton
15 December 2020
Professor Len Shackleton
8 October 2020
Research
Summary Following the Covid-19 lockdown, the UK labour market faces much higher unemployment and reductions in labour force participation as some groups withdraw from the labour market. Measures such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-employment Income Support Scheme served a useful purpose, but governments cannot keep businesses on life support indefinitely. Job ...
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Professor Len Shackleton
8 October 2020
Professor Len Shackleton
31 March 2020
Research
Why we can't all work from home
In recent years there has been a trend towards greater incidence of homeworking. This has been driven by enhanced technological possibilities, but also by supply and demand factors as employers try to save on office costs and workers seek to reduce travelling time and have a different work-life balance. There is some evidence that homeworking ...
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Professor Len Shackleton
31 March 2020
Edited by J.R. Shackleton
8 May 2019
Research
Summary In contrast to the recent past when even Labour politicians were ‘intensely relaxed’ about high pay, there is now widespread concern about the apparent excesses of some pay structures in corporate businesses. Top pay has risen much faster than average levels of pay in the last twenty years. This is in part the consequence ...
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Edited by J.R. Shackleton
8 May 2019
Kate Andrews
4 April 2019
Research
Gender pay gap reporting produces another round of misleading statistics
Summary Now into the second year of mandated gender pay gap reporting for large organisations, it has become increasingly clear that the influx of data - ranging from negative gaps, to gaps exceeding 50% - fails to provide any meaningful insight into equal or fair pay for men and women in the workplace. The requirement ...
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Kate Andrews
4 April 2019
9 November 2018
Research
IEA releases briefing on Equal Pay Day
Summary: The official calculation for the 2018 gender pay gap is at a record low of 8.6% for full-time workers, with a negligible gender pay gap for women aged 22-39. This gap increases later in life, with evidence from the United States that the bulk of the pay gap is a result of time taken ...
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9 November 2018
Professor Len Shackleton
3 September 2018
Research
Complexity, compliance and a case for reform
Summary: The National Minimum/Living Wage system has become too complicated, making unintentional non-compliance a problem, and is in danger of becoming a political football. The Low Pay Commission should reject the Taylor Review proposal for new separate minima for workers on zero-hours contracts. We should revert to having just two rates – one for 18-24 ...
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Professor Len Shackleton
3 September 2018
Len Shackleton
11 May 2018
Research
Why we shouldn't panic about automation, algorithms and artificial intelligence
Summary: 1. It is claimed that robots, algorithms and artificial intelligence are going to destroy jobs on an unprecedented scale. 2. These developments, unlike past bouts of technical change, threaten rapidly to affect even highly-skilled work and lead to mass unemployment and/or dramatic falls in wages and living standards, while accentuating inequality. 3. As a ...
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Len Shackleton
11 May 2018
Kate Andrews
2 April 2018
Research
Crude gender pay gap reporting measures render results meaningless
Summary: Despite an influx of new gender pay gap data - ranging from negative gaps, to gaps exceeding 60% - the government’s new pay gap reporting measures fail to provide any meaningful insight into equal or fair pay for men and women in the workplace. The requirement to measure pay gaps across entire organisations (rather ...
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Kate Andrews
2 April 2018
Professor Len Shackleton
27 December 2017
Research
Proportion of UK employees needing a licence to work has doubled in the last 15 years
Summary: Around one in five UK employees requires a licence from government to practice their chosen occupation. This proportion has probably doubled in the last fifteen years. A further fifth of workers are certified by government agencies, and such certification is often necessary for employment. Occupational regulation is usually justified by the need to protect ...
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Professor Len Shackleton
27 December 2017
