Becky Barrow
Mail Online
June 16, 2010
Record numbers of Britons are being forced to work part-time in a desperate move which cripples their finances, official figures revealed today.
Experts said the recession has triggered a new phenomenon – ‘part-time Britain’ – and warn the situation will get even worse as the Government takes the axe to the public sector.
Nearly one in eight State workers are expected to lose their job as the Government battles to control Britain’s financial crisis in what was described today as a ‘mass cull.’
Over the last year, the number of people who have a full-time job has collapsed by 468,000.
But the figures, from the Office for National Statistics, reveal a part-time jobs boom, with 255,000 people starting to work part-time.
Job struggle: The unemployment rate has risen to 2.47million
There are now 7.8million who fall into this category, the largest number since records began more than a quarter of a century ago.
Although many are typically parents with young children or those who are approaching or past retirement age, soaring numbers are being forced into part-time work.
When asked why, a record 1.1million say they 'could not find a fulltime job'.
Dr John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said many pay a heavy financial penalty for their part-time work.
The institute's own research shows the typical person who lost their job during the recession and has found a new one was hit by an average pay cut of 30 per cent.
For many families, this can push their finances to breaking
point, with the rising cost of living and bills, such as the cost of
petrol, close to record levels.
He said: 'We are living in part-time Britain, and many people are paying a heavy penalty for losing their job during the downturn.' The 'salary shock' is crippling.
On the rise: Graphs from the Office for National Statistics
The average full-time worker earns £25,412, compared with only £7,950 for a part-time worker, according to the ONS. Overall, its figures show unemployment is still rising, with another 23,000 Britons losing their job - and failing to find another one - between February and April.
There are 2.47million unemployed and economists warn it will keep on rising and a further 500,000 will join the queue over the next two years.
Vicky Redwood, UK economist from the consultancy Capital Economics, said: 'The labour market looks too fragile to withstand the looming public sector job cuts.
'We still think that unemployment has significantly further to rise, perhaps all the way to three million.'
Economists warn the economic recovery is so weak that the private sector will not be hiring all those who are fired from the public sector.
There is a particular crisis among the long-term unemployed, with the number who have been out of work for more than 12 months almost doubling in two years to 772,000, the highest since 1997.
Yesterday's figures paint a bleak picture of the battle that they face to get another job.
There are more than five workers chasing every job vacancy and the situation is even worse in some parts of the country.
Separate research, from the Trades Union Congress, shows it is as high as 24 to one in the worst hit parts of Britain, such as Hackney in East London.
Owen James, economist from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, warned: 'Over the medium-term, things are only likely to get worse before they get better.'
