The Government-implemented Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) supports companies in their attempts to ride out the COVID-19 pandemic, permitting them to place employees on a temporary leave of absence known as ‘furlough’, and claim state aid to pay furloughed staff either 80% of their usual wages or up to £2,500 per month, whichever amount is […]
Recognising the value and significance of cleaning work in a context of crisis
In this blog, Professor Miguel Martínez Lucio of the Work and Equalities Institute and the Alliance Manchester Business School and Dr Jo McBride of Durham University discuss the question of how we have failed to value the work and importance of those in the area of cleaning and hygiene-related employment more generally. The need now […]
What COVID-19 tells us about the value of human labour
In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, a radical reassessment of what is considered ‘key work’ has taken place. For many key workers, however, this status is not reflected in their salary, employment rights, or social perception. Here, Abbie Winton and Professor Debra Howcroft, from the Work and Equalities Institute, discuss the disproportionate risk/reward equation […]
Profiting from pandemics: COVID-19, changing routines and cyber crimes
The COVID-19 crisis is driving changes in the routines of institutions and individuals, as businesses, educational institutions and other organisations recommend or require employees to engage in social distancing in a collective attempt to minimise the spread of the virus. As well as having global socioeconomic effects, these changes in routine create opportunities for crimes. […]
Fathers and care
In this blog, Dr Helen Norman, Professor Colette Fagan, and Dr Nina Teasdale examine the political and economic influences which dissuade involvement in childcare by fathers. They explore what might encourage greater involvement, and suggest ways to embed this in local and national policy. National policy focuses on helping mothers rather than fathers to adapt […]
Ethnicity and gender in the Greater Manchester labour market
While male employment levels are roughly equal between ethnicities, women from ethnic minority backgrounds are less likely to be employed than their white peers. Here, Professor Ruth Lupton explores the reasons behind this disparity, and how policy and data-based approaches can help address it. Around 75% of white men are employed, while for the larger […]
The gender pay gap in Greater Manchester: What it tells us and what it doesn’t tell us about gender equality
The gender pay gap is considered a key indicator of gender equality as a whole. Here, Professor Jill Rubery breaks down the data behind local and national pay disparity, and offers policy based solutions which positively affect both male and female workers. The narrower gender pay gap in Greater Manchester, compared to England as a […]
Gender and occupational segregation in Greater Manchester
Within the Greater Manchester region, the highest paid roles are typically dominated by men. In this blog, Anna Sanders and Professor Francesca Gains break down the gender ratios within several key sectors, and offer solutions to increase gender parity across the region. Men are concentrated in higher-paid occupational sectors. Two-thirds of managers, directors and senior […]
Does fathers’ involvement in childcare influence mothers’ employment post-childbirth?
In October 2019, the Government Equalities Office published three pieces of research on the barriers to women’s progression. In this blog, Dr Helen Norman, Research Fellow in Sociology, discusses some of the findings in relation to her own research into the impact of paternal involvement in childcare on mothers’ employment trajectories during the early stages […]
The darker politics of wellbeing: the managerial abuse of ‘positive’ interventions at work
In this blog, Miguel Martínez Lucio, Professor in the Work and Equalities Institute and the Alliance Manchester Business School at The University of Manchester, discusses the ‘individualised’ approach to worker wellbeing and argues for a more collective approach that recognises the seriousness of mental health. Changing agendas in the workplace continue to undermine the regulatory […]