Evaluating the NLW at the Wage/In Work Welfare Interface Note: At the request of the conference organisers the paper was delivered twice. First, as part of the Social Security - Ideology, Law and Society in the 21st Century stream (9.00 am 6th April). Then again for the Labour Law stream (2.00 pm 6th April: ).

This was a paper given on 6th April 2016 at the annual conference of the Socio-Legal Studies Association, Lancaster University (4th-7th April 2016). This is the synopsis of the paper as provided in the conference programme: pp.131 (Social Security), 171 (Labour Law):
Paper 2: Keith Puttick (p.131). Evaluating the NLW at the Wage/In Work Welfare Interface. Citizens’ ‘welfare’ depends on a number of sources including wage income from the labour market, State social security, and targeted use of tax easements and reliefs - a source with some significant limitations (Alstott). Whilst wage income arguably remains the most important source within that mosaic (Barr), it is also an increasingly problematic one given the precarious and short-term nature of much of the work on offer, casualisation, underemployment, and the phenomenon of ‘dwindling wages’ (ILO, 2014). The National Minimum Wage (NMW) has provided a basic wage floor, but in many sectors it has become a ‘going rate’ or wage ceiling rather than a minimum floor (Resolution Foundation, 2013). Furthermore, labour market deregulation has neutralised mechanisms for securing better wage levels, particularly in sectors where higher wages could be paid. This, in turn, means that State support, including support for unregulated housing costs, is likely to remain a vital, on-going element in the social wage income for many workers and their dependants. The introduction of the National Living Wage will give 6 million or so low paid workers a ‘pay rise’ (Resolution Foundation, 2016). However, it will come at a price, including longer working hours and cuts to occupational benefits, as low paying employers introduce ‘productivity’ gains to fund the costs and on-costs of implementation. Furthermore, the scheme will be accompanied by roll-backs of State support in the quest for the government’s ‘lower welfare, higher wages’ strategy, including reductions in the value of Universal Credit and freezes to benefits’ up-ratings through to 2020 – features criticised by the Child Poverty Action Group and the Fawcett Society, given the likely impacts on women and children. This paper will evaluate these and other features of the NLW scheme.

Stream: Labour Law 1 (p.171)
Paper 1: Keith Puttick, Evaluating the National Living Wage.