The role of “good jobs” in tackling in-work poverty

In the recent past, governments aimed to reduce unemployment by trying to get people “any job”, and at the same time increase the hourly wages of the lowest paying jobs. But that strategy led to people getting stuck in jobs that offered few hours, little flexibility and no potential for advancement. Labour is right to focus on “good jobs” as way out of that trap but, Thomas Stephens warns, this Government ambition needs to be coupled with its Industrial Strategy and deeper reforms to the welfare system.