The number of people working on zero hours contracts in the South West is at a six-year high.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that between October and December 2019, there were an estimated 107,000 people on contracts without a minimum number of guaranteed hours in the South West region.
That’s the equivalent of one person in every 26.
That was an increase of 42.7% compared to the same point in 2018, when 75,000 people were on zero hours contracts, or one in 37 people.
This was the second biggest annual increase recorded by any UK region following the East Midlands (an increase of 58.7%).
It was also the highest number recorded since October to December 2014, when comparable regional figures began.
That quarter, an estimated 73,000 people in the South West were on a contract without a minimum number of guaranteed hours, meaning that the number has increased by nearly 50 per cent over the period.
The data also shows the South West region accounts for 11.03% of all people on zero hours contracts nationally.
In the UK, there were an estimated 974,000 people on a contract without a minimum number of guaranteed hours at the end of last year, or one in every 33 people.
That is 15.4% higher than the estimated 844,000 between October and December 2018 and the highest number since at least the same quarter in 2000, when comparable records began.
That year there were 225,000 people on zero hours contracts or one in 125 people.
Young workers were much more likely to be employed on zero hours contracts - 9.1% of workers aged under 25, compared to 3% of all workers.
The restaurant and hotel sector saw the highest proportion of zero hours contracts, at 22.9%, followed by the health and social work sector, at 20.3%.
On average, people on zero hours contracts worked 19.7 hours a week.
The GMB union is campaigning for zero hours contracts to be banned, as has already happened in Ireland and New Zealand.
Tim Roache, GMB general secretary, said: “Companies are using zero hours contracts as a business model to avoid their responsibilities to the people who make them their money - these figures show that’s on the rise.
“On a zero hours contract you don’t know what wage you’ll have coming in from week to week, you don’t know if you can pay the bills or buy the shopping and you can't say boo to a goose or you won’t get any hours the week after.
“People shouldn’t have to live like this - zero hours means zero security and zero rights.
“Enough is enough, it’s time to follow the successful policies of other countries and ban these contracts once and for all.”
