9th April 2017 Youth employment levels in Scotland still haven’t recovered from the global financial crash. Before the full onset of the financial crisis the number of 16-24 year olds in employment stood at 365,000. The latest figures sho… read more
8th April 2017 Labour’s plans to boost child benefit would help over half a millions Scottish families and nearly 1 million kids. We want to see child benefit increased by £240 by 2020. This move will lift thousands of children out … read more
7th April 2017
Scotland has a hidden jobs crisis, with real unemployment standing at nearly 10 per cent.
Analysis from the independent Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) has revealed that real unemployment in Scotland between 2015 and 2016 stood at 322,000 – or 9.4 per cent of the labour market.
Why is real unemployment so much higher than the stats we normally see?
Real unemployment is calculated by combining the figure for unemployment people with those who are economically inactive but want a job.
People who are economically inactive but want a job make up 23.8% of those aged 16-64 who are defined as “Economically inactive”
That’s an additional 190,000 people.
What do the experts say?
Professor Brian Ashcroft has written abvout economic inacitivty before. He was warning about real unemployment rising five years ago.
The STUC – Scotland’s Trades union Congress – have raised concerns before that official stats don’t show the real condition of our jobs market:
“Understandably, the political debate revolves around the headline employment and unemployment rates and rarely addresses these other trends. The STUC has sought to highlight that the true level of demand for labour is not always reflected in the ILO and claimant count and has published regular labour market reports which have included the development of a measure of ‘Scotland’s Full-Time Employment Deficit.’
And the respected think tank the Fraser of Allander Institute recently talked about rising levels of inacitvity:
“[inacitivty rates] have increased over the past 18 months. What is interesting is that women account for much of the rise. The increase in female inactivity of over 50,000 (16-64) coincides with falling unemployment (-19,000) and employment (-32,000) (both 16+) over the past 18 months.”
How would Labour fix this?
We would would stimulate our economy by using the power of procurement to ensure high quality jobs and front load investment in housebuilding.
We’d make work pay and invest in skills so we can comepte for the jobs of the future. Building our economy from the ground up and for the long term. You can read more here.
Agree with our plan? Then help spread our message.
6 April 2017 Working poverty in Scotland is at its highest level since devolution. Since 2007 the number of households in poverty where at least one adult works has increased by 150,000 to 420,000. That’s a failure of the SNP in governmen… read more
5th April 2017
The SNP government has channelled millions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash to Amazon since 2007.
Now figures released by Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s economic development agency, show that Amazon has benefited from more that £3.6million of taxpayer grants since the nationalists came to power.
Amazon has hit the headlines in recent months for poor working conditions.
Despite this – these taxpayer grants were not conditional on paying the living wage.
Why does this matter?
Low pay is growing in Scotland. The number of Scots paid less than the real living wage has increased by 70,000 since 2013.
70 per cent of workers in the accommodation and food service sectors earn less than the real living wage, with 45 per cent in the wholesale and retail trade sector earning less than the real living wage.
People across Scotland urgently need a payrise, but instead their taxes are supporting companies who deliver fair pay.
What would Labour do differently?
We would extend the living wage to more jobs, especially to low pay sectors like retail and hospitality.
We wouldn’t give companies taxpayer funded grants or contracts unless they delivered a living wage guarantee.
We tried to change the law on this a few years ago – but the SNP voted against.
Agree with our plan? Then help spread our message
read more