New research from the CIPD suggests there needs to be a more balanced and nuanced debate about their place in the labour market, that recognises both the positives and downsides to zero-hours work. The CIPD’s new research ‘Zero-hours contracts – Evolution and current status’– claims that this kind of arrangement – where there’s no guaranteed minimum number of hours that must be worked – is an established part of the UK labour market. It finds that the number of people on ZHCs has changed little since 2015, making up just 3 percent of employment. Fewer than a fifth of employers (18 percent) use ZHCs, and they’re most often used in the hospitality and entertainment industries, in the voluntary sector, and typically in roles such as bar staff, waiters/waitresses, and care workers. (more…)

Nearly six out of ten women (58 percent) say caring responsibilities have stopped them applying for promotion or a new job, and one in five (19 percent) have left a job because it was too hard to balance work and care, according to wide-ranging research by Ipsos and Business in the Community (BITC). Whilst 35 percent of all adults, and 44 percent per cent of working adults, have caring responsibilities, the research found that they are not spread equally. Women account for 85 percent of sole carers for children and 65 percent of sole carers for older adults. More people from ethnic minority backgrounds (42 percent) have caring responsibilities than from white backgrounds. (more…)