labour market issues (L12)

Question 1

zero hour contract

Answer 1

allows employees to hire staff with no guarantee of work, working when needed on short notice and their pay depends on hours

Question 2

percentage of people employed on zero hour contracts as their main job between october and december 2014

Answer 2

2.3% of UK workforce

Question 3

why are zero hour contracts considered controversial

Answer 3

don’t offer financial stability , employers take advantage of it by using them as a management tool (some get more hours some get less )

Question 4

what industry does a zero hour contract affect most

Answer 4

hotel

Question 5

gender pay gap

Answer 5

difference in average wages of males and females

Question 6

gender pay gap in the UK

Answer 6

for every £1 a man makes, a woman makes 80p

Question 7

reasons behind ethnic pay gap in Britain

Answer 7

Bangladeshi + Pakistani households paid 1/3 of white families
usually enter low skilled jobs like cleaning or leisure where the pay is 25% lower than average
ethnic minorities tend to be younger than white britons so are at an earlier stage in their careers

Question 8

apprenticeship levy

Answer 8

helped fund 3 million new apprenticeships which the government has promised to create between 2015 and 2020 while raising quality of training

Question 9

disadvantages to apprenticeships

Answer 9

usually take longer than uni, cost to employers and resource intensive

Question 10

why has the UK farming sector experienced difficulties finding staff in recent years?

Answer 10

reliant on seasonal workers from central + eastern europe to pick their harvest but numbers are falling due to brexit