Work and wellbeing in modern Britain: an application of the capability approach

Stephens, Thomas C. (2024) Work and wellbeing in modern Britain: an application of the capability approach. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

This thesis proposes a new way of conceptualising work quality in modern societies. Using the Capability Approach (Paper 1), it argues the true impact that work has on people’s wellbeing can only be captured if we consider three things: first, the impact work characteristics have on their wellbeing in terms of the achievement of valued “beings and doings” (Functionings); second, the choice workers have over Functionings outside their current work (the Capability Set); and third, their different rates of conversion of work into wellbeing based on their personal, family, and household circumstances (Conversion Factors). Existing multidimensional indices of work quality capture the first of these but neglect the second and third – an omission which risks under-stating the impact low-quality work has on the most marginalised workers. Using data from Understanding Society, the thesis redresses this empirical gap, and discovers new inequalities in workers’ wellbeing not apparent from their work quality alone. First (Paper 2), I build an index of multidimensional Quality of Work (QoW) to capture the effect work has on peoples’ Functioning achievement, and explore the impact of different weighting methods on findings. Second (Paper 3), I introduce proxies for the Capability Set (CS scores) into the analysis, to understand the choices and constraints faced by workers in different-quality jobs. This finds a strong relationship between low QoW and constrained choices, with over one-in-ten UK workers identified as the most marginalised of all: scoring at the bottom of the distribution for both QoW and CS scores. However, consistent with predictions set out in Paper 1, it also finds relatively greater heterogeneity in the situation of workers lower in the QoW distribution, suggesting those with a wide range of choices may access low-quality work at points in their lives where it enhances their wellbeing. Third (Paper 4), I introduce eight Conversion Factors (CFs) into the analysis: these measure any additional commitments workers have to manage alongside work, which reduce the rate of conversion of work into wellbeing – with higher CF scores equating to a lower rate of conversion. This paper finds that higher CF scores are associated with lower QoW: in other words, workers in the lowest-quality jobs tend to have greater commitments – such as more support needs for loved ones in the household, or more personal health issues and disabilities – than those in the highest-quality jobs. Constrained choices exacerbate this relationship, with those workers in both low QoW and with constrained choices having disproportionately lower rates of conversion. The paper explores ways to account for this through an equivalisation approach, and finds labour market inequalities by gender and ethnicity are wider once womens’ and ethnic minorities’ disproportionately lower rates of conversion are accounted for.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 2024 Thomas C. Stephens
Library of Congress subject classification:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Sets:	Departments > Social Policy
Supervisor:	Burchardt, Tania and Sehnbruch, Kirsten
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/4804

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