Making work pay? The intersections of the welfare system and precarious work in the UK

This chapter considers the complex intersections between the welfare system and precarious work in the UK, and the range of supply side and demand side factors that shape transitions into the labour market. It explores how the financial and normative pressures on individuals to find work, combined with low cost and undifferentiated packages of employability support offered by activation programmes limits the freedom of clients to navigate their own pathways into decent, rather than precarious, work (i.e., work that is secure, sustainable, well-paid and fulfilling). We argue that a more transformative approach would be to remove structural barriers to work through investment in adult education and vocational training and tackling the high cost of transportation and childcare. These measures should be combined with ‘programmatic’ demand-side interventions that support employers to create better jobs and more sustainable routes out of poverty.