GOOD JOB? How our experience of work has changed over the past 30 years

The world of work has changed substantially over the past 30 years – from what job we do, to how we do it and what we get paid. These things matter for our job satisfaction – indeed our life satisfaction, via the esteem we get from work, to the stress or success it can bring. For many people, jobs are such a large part of our lives that changes to them can shape our well-being – for good, and for bad.

What have been the big picture shifts in our experience of work over recent decades, and how does this differ by pay, occupation and gender? Is the commonly-held view that the quality of work has deteriorated wide of the mark? How do we feel about economic change when it affects the job we do? And what can policy makers do to improve our experience of work in the future?