The outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis has raised concerns about its impact on precarious and vulnerable workers when most of them have been at the front line during the crisis and their work has been revealed as essential. Dr Marti Lopez-Andreu, from the Work and Equalities Institute, investigates some of these key workers in areas […]
#HereToDeliver: Valuing food delivery workers in the future
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore a new cadre of valued workers. And it’s not the corporate CEO or senior business leader but the delivery workers that are helping cafes and restaurants stay open (in some form) during lockdown. Cristina Inversi, Aude Cefaliello and Tony Dundon of the Work and Equalities Institute (WEI) […]
Where next for SPL: reflections on the Women and Equalities Committee’s ‘Fathers and the Workplace’ inquiry recommendations
Parliament’s Women and Equalities Committee today released its report from the Fathers and the Workplace inquiry which highlights the difficulties dads have in balancing their careers and childcare responsibilities. Dr Emma Banister from Alliance Manchester Business School and Dr Ben Kerrane from Lancaster University Management School give us their thoughts on the report’s recommendations. It […]
Why closing the gender pay gap requires a new debate on fair pay
Professor Jill Rubery, Director of the Work and Equalities Institute at Alliance Manchester Business School examines why progress on closing the gender pay gap within organisations requires a new debate on the principles and practices of fair pay. Similar pay gaps, to those at the BBC, can be expected to be found across the public […]
Are some fathers being ignored in family friendly policy initiatives?
Dr Emma Banister from Alliance Manchester Business School and Dr Helen Norman from The University of Manchester examine the need for policy makers to include fathers in family policy initiatives. The introduction of Shared Parental Leave aimed to support and encourage fathers to be more involved in their child’s upbringing. Debates and initiatives surrounding fatherhood […]
Is having any job at all better for your health and wellbeing than being unemployed?
There are long held assumptions that taking any job is better for a person’s health and wellbeing than being unemployed. A study of over 1000 unemployed adults by Tarani Chandola, Professor of Medical Sociology at The University of Manchester, compared health and stress levels of those remaining unemployed and different quality jobs. The study revealed evidence that […]
Shared parental leave: baby steps towards equality?
On the second anniversary of the introduction of shared parental leave into UK law, Doctors Emma Banister and Ben Kerrane look at the story so far and how policy changes can ensure greater success in the future. Claims that shared leave is a ‘failing’ policy have been shown to be based on erroneous statistics Wider […]
Ethnic inequalities persist in the labour market
Despite government programmes to address high levels of unemployment in ethnic minority groups, inequalities persist, explains Professor James Nazroo. The impact of the economic crisis on members of ethnic minority groups has been strangely overlooked. Discussions of falls in unemployment rates and how these relate to part time and insecure – zero hours – employment, […]