Cost of living and job insecurity means the number of people working two jobs is soaring.
The Labour Force Survey has today released figures showing that the number of people working second jobs has increased by over 100,000 since the last general election.
It serves as a damning indictment of the Coalition government’s record on job security, with huge numbers of people unable to meet the cost of living with one job.
Rachel Reeves, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary said of the findings:
“The huge increase in the number of people in second jobs is further evidence of David Cameron’s failure to deliver a recovery that benefits working people.
“The Tory cost-of-living crisis, job insecurity and stagnant wages has left working people £1,600 a year worse off since 2010.
“Instead of the complacency of the Tories, Labour will ensure we earn our way to higher living standards for all with more good jobs. A Labour government will raise the minimum wage to £8 an hour, give incentives to employers to pay a living wage, expand free childcare for working parents, boost apprenticeships and get 200,000 homes a year built.”
It is especially significant that the rise in second jobs includes a 22 per cent increase in the number of people who are self-employed as a second job.
IFS and Family Resources Survey data shows that gross income among the self-employed fell by 14 per cent between financial year 2009/10 and 2012/13.
Furthermore, new Universal Credit rules threaten 600,000 self-employed workers with a huge increase in red tape.
In her statement, Reeves said that Labour would cut red tape for older workers who are self-employed. She promised that Labour would ensure these workers are treated fairly in the mortgage market, and that they are able to save for a pension.
Iain Duncan Smith has previously said that the growth in self-employment is ‘both a sign and a result of the economic recovery this government is delivering’.
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2 Responses to “100,000 people have been forced to take second jobs since 2010”
Leon Wolfeson
Labour don’t oppose those UC rules though, and don’t oppose the in-work conditionality which will mean that starting a new business will mean a full job search AND trying to get the business running for many, among many other nasty things in-work conditionality will do.
CaseyAAvera
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