Temporary Workers: Cause for Concern or Complacency?

Abstract

Increases in temporary working and an associated peripheralisation of the workforce have been the subject of a great deal of recent debate. This paper uses nationally representative data from the Labour Force Survey to (1) highlight the importance of clarifying concepts such as `temporary working' which are not defined by employment legislation and (2) to provide some background information on the social and economic characteristics of `temporary' workers.