A few years ago, the Harvard professor Michael Sandel used an episode in his Radio 4 series The Public Philosopher to discuss perspectives on the value of work. Canvassing the views of a Dagenham audience ranging from low-paid retail employees to white‑collar professionals, Prof Sandel drew two principal conclusions: work was widely viewed as a potential source of self-esteem and communal purpose; but for too many its oppressive reality was one of stress, precarity and a sense of disempowerment.
Some of the bleak consequences of that divide are outlined in the impact assessments accompanying Angela Rayner’s employment rights bill, which is now passing through the House of Lords. In 2022/23, for example, 17.1m working days were lost due to stress, depression or anxiety – equivalent to an estimated £5bn in lost output. Around 2 million employees reported anxiety due to a lack of clarity over the number of hours they will work, or shifts suddenly being changed. A lack of adequate employment protection means that some 4,000 pregnant women and mothers returning from maternity leave lose their jobs each year.
