It is very strange that at a time when unemployment rates across the world, are at the lowest levels since the 1970s, there is a cost-of-living crisis with so many people who have jobs are unable to manage to pay for basic costs including housing, food and energy. We know, of course, that these are unusual times following the COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis of global supply chains. While we might attribute the current strains on the cost-of-living to these relatively recent developments, we also need to understand the longer-term contributing factors particularly wage stagnation and the loss of secure employment over the last 20 years. In effect, having a job – as opposed to being unemployed – is not necessarily a protection against poverty and hardship.

While unemployment rates have been a core indicator of the hardship of people out of work and looking for work, it is no longer sufficient. In my chapter for a new international book on unemployment, I argue we need a better measure of how well or badly people are doing in the labour market. You can read it here:

https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/1124950