Half a million British workers fell into insecure employment last year, bringing the total number of employees in low-paid jobs to more than a fifth of the workforce, new data has shown.
In evidence of a slowing labour market, research from the Work Foundation at Lancaster University found that 500,000 people had taken on insecure forms of employment between the spring of 2022 and 2023, defined as workers forced to take jobs with zero-hours contracts and no employment rights.
The total number of people in unstable employment is now at 6.8 million, or 21 per cent of the active labour force.
The research found that vulnerable groups were more likely to be in such jobs, including women, disabled workers, young people aged between 16 to
