Characterising the job ladder in England

This project will study the job ladder in England, examining who climbs it, when, and why.

Why this project is important

Earnings comprise the majority of income for most households, and improved wage growth at the bottom of the distribution is essential for significant improvements in living standards. Since the 2007-08 Financial Crisis, living standards have mostly stagnated due to slow wage growth, with any rises in them arising from increases in number of people working in the previous decade. With labour supply now declining, the need for accelerated productivity growth is urgent.

Productivity and wage growth are also essential components of economic growth, a priority for the new Government. Previous research has identified several interconnected trends in the UK over the past 15 years, including slow growth in average wages, high dispersion in wage levels, persistence in individual wages over time, and a slowdown in labour market flows.

This project aims to fill the gap in understanding job mobility in the UK, leveraging the newly available Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset (LEO).

What it will involve

The research team aim to answer the following research questions:

• What does the job ladder look like in England?
• How does it contribute to wage differentials over the life cycle?
• Who climbs it based on educational, demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics?
• Are people moving jobs less often, and if so, why?

The LEO will be used for a series of econometric analyses to model the correlates of job mobility for both workers and firms. Descriptive statistics about wage impacts from moving jobs will be calculated and used for analysis of job moving and wage impacts, and how this has changed over time. The granularity of the data allows for the testing of the impact of local labour market dynamics. Results from the above analyses will also be used to estimate how changes in various job ladder parameters impacts wage growth and wage distributions.

How it will make a difference

Completion of the research will help inform future policy and practice changes and contribute to ongoing discussions on labour market dynamics, job mobility, and wage inequality. The capacity of researcher and policymakers to further utilise the LEO data will be enhanced. Policy papers, journal articles, and public events will be used to disseminate the findings.