One in five workers in Ireland have good jobs that pay well, provide good employment security, good work-life flexibility, and provide workers with high levels of discretion over the conduct of their work.
That’s according to the latest report, examining the quality of people’s jobs in Ireland, by the Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI), the trade-union backed economic research organisation.
Men are almost three times more likely than women to occupy high quality jobs, and men are significantly less likely to have poor quality jobs, revealing a pattern of occupational gender segregation in the Irish labour market.
The report, by Dr Lisa Wilson (NERI) and Professor John Geary (UCD) draws on data collected in UCD’s Working in Ireland Survey (WIIS), and assesses the quality of jobs in the Irish labour market, identifying where the good and poor jobs are and who occupies them, and estimates the proportion of the workforce that occupies jobs in either of these categories.
The report finds that, at the other end of the job quality spectrum, a little over a quarter of the workforce are employed in poor quality jobs.
These are found to be broadly of two types. The first, described as “demanding, highly controlled, precarious jobs” are occupied by workers who face significant job insecurity. Their earnings are low and they work hard over long hours and have poor work-life flexibility.
The second are described as “precarious, low-paid jobs,” similarly characterised by insecurity and low pay, but are also typified by the provision of little training and few managements supports.
The report says that the State can do more to improve job quality, and that there are several options in this regard, including the establishment a set of minimum standards across a series of job quality dimensions. The report says the State could also do more regarding paternal leave, including shared maternity-paternity leave, which would lessen the care burden on women.
Find out more and read the full report:
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