The real value of different professions

A new report by the new economic foundation (nef), an independent "think-and-do tank", which inspires and demonstrates real economic well-being, aims to discover a new approach when looking at the real value of work.

The report, entitled A Bit Rich?, explores how pay inequalities in the UK impact what workers really value. As the research explains, how much an individual earns can define lifestyle choices and where people can afford to live, as well as affecting individual aspirations and ideas of status.

The research uses some of the principles and valuation techniques of Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis to develop its findings. SROI is defined as an analytic tool for measuring and accounting for a much broader concept of value. It incorporates social, environmental and economic costs and benefits into decision making, providing a full picture of how value is created or destroyed.

However, the research aims to go beyond this concept to try and understand how much of what we get paid really equates to "worth". It attempts to answer questions such as, "what impact does our work have on the rest of society?" and "do the financial rewards we receive correspond to this impact?"

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For richer, for poorer

The report explores the state of work and value of six different jobs, from both the private and public sectors, which, the authors say, have been chosen deliberately to "illustrate the inequality problem".

The authors of the report also note that they recognize that business incentives are created by the institutions and systems surrounding them, and it is therefore not the intention of the report to target the individuals that do these jobs but rather to examine the professions themselves.

Three of the chosen professions are low paid, while the others are highly paid. The research examines the contributions that each occupation makes to society, finding that it was often the lower paid jobs that involved more valuable work.

The accompanying infographic breaks down these statistics, revealing that investment bankers in the City of London, who are among the best remunerated people in the economy, and who are being handsomely rewarded for reportedly bringing the global financial system to the brink of collapse are the lease valued workers in terms of social worth. Despite bringing home salaries of between GBP£500,000 ($811,397) and GBP£10 million ($16 million), City bankers destroy GBP£7 ($11) of social value for every pound in value they generate.

Meanwhile, for hospital cleaners, who play a vital role in the inner-workings of our healthcare facilities, are often the most underestimated and undervalued in the way they are paid and treated. In fact, according to the research, for every GBP£1 they are paid, over GBP£10 ($16) in social value is generated.

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The report also challenges 10 of the most enduring myths surrounding pay and work, attempting to debunk age-old beliefs such as whether people who earn more don't necessarily work harder than those who earn less and that the private sector is not necessarily more efficient than the public.

The report also offers a series of policy recommendations that would reduce the inequality between incomes and reconnect salaries with the value of work. The full report can be viewed here.

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