Today, after an eightfold increase in the past 10 years, everybody knows what a zero-hours contract is and what it represents. It is a symbol of an increasingly insecure labour market in which the balance of power is tilted decisively in favour of employers.
The fact that zero-hours contracts have their own acronym (ZHC) shows how widespread they have become. In 2005, there were 100,000 workers on contracts that did not guarantee a minimum number of hours. The latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics show that by the end of 2017 there were 801,000.
Somewhat surprisingly, the big increase in ZHCs was not during the Great Recession itself, when the number of people on them doubled to 200,000. Instead, it has been the period when the economy has been recovering from its longest and deepest slump since the second world war that their use has rocketed.
Initially, the argument was that ZHCs were a response to the sluggish and uneven nature of Britain’s recovery, and they would become less prevalent as unemployment decreases. This argument looks less tenable now that the jobless rate is back to its pre-recession level. In the past year alone, the number of zero-hours contract workers has increased by 15%.
Let’s be clear. Some workers like ZHCs because they provide flexibility. Tens of thousands have been with their current employers for 10 years or more. Similarly, many people at university find that a ZHC dovetails well with their studies. Even after the sharp rise since 2017, people on zero-hours contracts account for just 2.5% of those in employment.
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