Rhys Davies

Sources of Variation in Trade Union Membership Across the UK: The Case of Wales

This article deals with issues relating to trade union density and the fact that while over the past 30 years, union densities have followed a declining path in all regions, this retreat was not uniform across space. Analysis of the Labour Force Survey reveals that Wales exhibits among the highest levels of union density in the UK. The reasons for this are examined through statistical analysis, historical analysis and interview data. These analyses reveal that there appear to be intrinsic differences in the nature of workplace representation in Wales; one linked to a particular style of trade unionism supported by the authority of a devolved state that continue to contribute to higher levels of membership.

Devolution and Geographies of Education: The Use of the Millennium Cohort Study for "Home International" Comparisons across the UK.

Following political devolution in the late 1990s and the establishment of the governments for Wales and Scotland, the education systems of the four home countries of the UK have significantly diverged. Consequently, not only does that mean that education research in the UK has to be sensitive to such divergence, but that the divergence of policy and practice provides an important opportunity to undertake comparative research within the UK. Such ‘home international’ comparisons between the four home countries of the UK also provide the opportunity to undertake ‘natural experiments’ of education policy and practice across similar socio-economic contexts. By drawing specifically on the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) – a recent longitudinal birth cohort study specifically designed to provide the potential for geographical analysis – the paper finds considerable variation in child development by country of the UK, with no single story of ‘success’. However, the paper finds that literacy development amongst children in England is, particularly in London, on average, greater than for children elsewhere. The paper concludes by arguing that ‘home international’ comparisons must take seriously issues of scale and geography when interpreting the influence of ‘national’ education systems and policies on educational outcomes.

How Does Workplace Monitoring Affect the Gender Wage Differential? Analysis of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey — A Research Note

This paper outlines the development of a new data source that combines workplace information from the Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS) with employee data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). Illustrative analysis of the gender wage differential demonstrates how the inclusion of additional workplace characteristics collected from WERS can be utilized to understand better-observed patterns in earnings within ASHE. Analysis reveals that monitoring gender equality at the workplace is not associated with a reduction in the gender wage gap. Matching WERS/ASHE provides the opportunity to investigate a wider range of workplace phenomena than would be possible based only upon the WERS Survey of Employees.

The Dynamics of Disability and Work in Britain

This paper examines the dynamic relationship between work-limiting disability and labour market outcomes using longitudinal data created by matching individuals in the Local Labour Force Survey (2004–10). By applying event-study methods, changes in employment are traced through the onset of, and exit from, disability. These relationships are examined between subgroups of the population, including those defined by the nature and severity of disability. For most groups we find evidence of asymmetry in the impact of onset and exit: employment is significantly reduced at onset and continues to decline post-onset whereas, after controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, exiting disability has a limited effect.

Age and Work‐Related Health: Insights from the UK Labour Force Survey

Data from the UK Labour Force Survey (LFS) are used to examine two methodological issues in the analysis of the relationship between age and work-related health. First, the LFS is unusual in that it asks work-related health questions to those who are not currently employed. This facilitates a more representative analysis than that which is constrained to focus only on those currently in work. Second, information in the LFS facilitates a comparison of work-related health problems that stem from current employment to a more encompassing measure that includes those related to a former job. We find that accounting for each of these sources of bias increases the age work-related health risk gradient, and suggest that ignoring such effects will underestimate the work-related health implications of current policies to extend working lives.

The effect of schools on school leavers' university participation

ABSTRACT This paper considers the role that schools have in determining whether school leavers participate in higher education or not. It examines the association between schools and university participation using a unique dataset of 3 cohorts of all young people leaving maintained schools in Wales. School “effects” are identified, even after controlling for individual-level factors, such as their prior attainment, socioeconomic circumstances, ethnicity, and special educational needs. Schools appear to have a particular “effect” on the likelihood that a young person enters an elite university. However, the findings suggest the concept of a school “effect” on higher education participation is not straightforward – schools appear to have different levels of effectiveness depending on the gender of the young people and the nature of their higher education participation. These findings are considered within the policy contexts of school effectiveness and widening access to higher education.