- Home
- Publications
- The Evolution Of The Modern Worker: Attitudes To Work
The Evolution of the Modern Worker: Attitudes to Work
Related Themes
Labour, Employment and WagesTags
JEL Code
J28, J31, J53, J60
External Resources
Paper Category Number
372
In this chapter/discussion paper we explore how employees' experiences of, and attitudes to, work have changed over more than a quarter century. In an earlier evaluation, published in the mid-1990s, Bryson and McKay concluded that the quality of working life had deteriorated between the early 1980s and early 1990s: a period which not only encompassed the economic and policy upheavals noted above, but also the deep recession of 1990/91. In the period since Bryson and McKay's earlier analysis, Britain first experienced 12 years of uninterrupted economic growth, but has recently seen the most severe recession since the 1930s. We look therefore to see how employees' experiences of, and attitudes to, work have continued to change. Has there been further deterioration in the most recent decade, or did the years of economic prosperity and the introduction of many new minimum standards lead, instead, to an improvement? Further, what effect has the most recent recession had on employees' attitudes to work?
We begin by examining employees' perceptions to two of the most critical aspects of any employment relationship: the degree of job security and the amount of pay on offer. We then move on to consider more qualitative features of the employment relationship: the degree of trust or conflict between employees and their employers, and the degree of involvement that employees consider themselves to have over decision making at their workplace.
Related Blog Posts
Breaking Down the Different Types of Pension in the UK
Robyn Smith
Adrian Pabst
25 Mar 2024
6 min read
What Are the Implications of the Rising National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage Rates?
Ekaterina Aleynikova
Adrian Pabst
19 Mar 2024
5 min read
How Changes in Migration Policy Could Boost Scotland’s Economy
Max Mosley
Ekaterina Aleynikova
18 Dec 2023
3 min read
Related Projects
Related News
Press Release: Compositional effects push up average weekly earnings at the end of 2020
26 Jan 2021
2 min read
Press Release: 2020 shaping up to be the worst year for total pay growth since 2009
15 Dec 2020
2 min read
Related Publications
The Nature of the Inflationary Surprise in Europe and the USA
21 Mar 2024
Discussion Papers
Pay-Setting Among Employers in the Agriculture, Cleaning, Hospitality and Retail Sectors
11 Mar 2024
Research Report
Energy and Climate Policy in a DSGE Model of the United Kingdom
08 Mar 2024
Discussion Papers