May 29 @ 11:00 – 12:00 CET
Social scientists now find that the quality of our jobs is one of the most important factors contributing to our wellbeing and health. But how has job quality been faring in recent years across the developed world? Is it fair to assume that, as economies grow, so the quality of our jobs will improve? Or are working conditions largely independent of how rich we are?
In his presentation Francis will introduce a wide-ranging review of the latest social science of job quality, as revealed in his latest book: Hard At Work. He will show what we know about how job quality affects our wellbeing, and then discuss the general changes that have occurred over the 21st century. He will organise this discussion around a framework of the seven dimensions of job quality: earnings, prospects, working time quality, autonomy and skill, work intensity, the social environment and the physical environment.
He will conclude with a brief discussion of what’s meant by a ‘bad job’, and then review some principles behind policy-making for better jobs.
Speaker:
Francis Green
UCL Institute of Education
Francis Green is Emeritus Professor of Work and Education Economics at UCL Institute of Education. After graduating in Physics at Oxford University, he studied Economics at the London School of Economics, before writing his PhD thesis at Birkbeck College. The author of ten earlier books, and more than 200 papers, he has also worked as an expert advisor for the European Union, the OECD, the UK government and the Singapore government. His recent research has focused on private schools, and on job quality. His book, “Hard At Work. Job Quality, Wellbeing and the Global Economy” is just published by Oxford University Press.
