Responding to today's release of labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics [1], Co-Leader of the Green Party Jonathan Bartley said:
“The government must not use headline unemployment figures as a convenient camouflage to hide the fact that our economy is fundamentally failing.
"Today's figures show that both actual hours worked and average weekly earnings fell in real terms. The economy is not meeting the needs of the very people it should be serving.
"More and more workers are being trapped in precarious informal employment or part-time work.
"Yesterday's Taylor report did not propose the bold ideas we need. We need to go back to basics and ask who the economy is really for.
"What good are low unemployment figures if your income isn’t enough to build a life upon? What good is it being forced to take up a job that gives you no security, no stability, and no sense of satisfaction?
"We need to make the economy work for everyone. That means a decent living wage, ensuring everyone is paid a basic income, providing a footing from which to pursue a career that is rewarding and inspiring. It means transitioning and rebalancing our hollowed out economy to invest in the jobs we need for a resilient and secure future, such as in the renewables sector. And it means exploring ideas such as a four-day working week.”
Notes
[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/uklabourmarket/latest