Job quality matters as much for wellbeing as physical health. Yet we rarely measure it. New research explains why governments should pay much more attention to the quality – not just the quantity – of work. By @francisgreen1.bsky.social buff.ly/6UJrLph

NEW on the Economics Observatory – Beyond wages: what makes a good job? By Francis Green @francisgreen1.bsky.social 👇

In our new @bjireditor.bsky.social paper we show that the establishment is the dominant explanatory factor for non-pay job quality and as important as occupation in accounting for pay. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... @sriucl.bsky.social @francisgreen1.bsky.social @bayesbschool.bsky.social

Do you wonder if bursaries could mitigate the inequality reproduced through private schooling? See our new preprint for a sobering factual account. Diluting Exclusivity? The Prevalence and Distribution of Bursaries and Scholarships for Britain’s Private Schools. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Just published, our analysis of job quality trends in South Korea. A mixed picture. Our findings question the presumption that social progress tracks economic growth. Lee, S. and F. Green. 2025. “Job Quality in the Republic of Korea: Progress or Decline?” International Labour Review 164 (3): 1–21.

Interesting article in the FT this weekend, for anyone concerned about job quality: "What if working from home was a legal right?". The right to work at home for up to two days is being proposed in Victoria. It's popular.

"Hard At Work", my new book about job quality, can be pre-ordered now from Oxford University Press. It will also be available online free access.

My new book will be published in the new year: Hard At Work. Job Quality, Wellbeing and the Global Economy. global.oup.com/academic/pro... "An authoritative new account of the evolution of job quality in the twenty-first century and how it impacts our health and wellbeing"

The battle over private schools. This week's cover, written by David Kynaston and Francis Green.

Doing economics and wondering about human capital theory? Here's a fresh critique, explaining why neoclassical economics gets the education-economy nexus wrong. doi.org/10.1111/joes...

Evidence is that the quality of jobs is as important as your physical health for general wellbeing, and far more important than education, gender, marital status, parental status, age, or income -- in Britain, the US, Europe and South Korea. doi.org/10.1093/ser/...

It is where you work - not who you are or what you do - that explains most of the variance in non-pecuniary job quality across workers docs.iza.org/dp17724.pdf @sriucl.bsky.social @uclsociology.bsky.social