Quarter of a million in insecure employment

More than a quarter of a million workers in Scotland are thought to be in insecure employment, according to new analysis.

Figures from the independent Scottish Parliament Information Centre, (Spice) show an estimated 274,000 people are in insecure work.

A total of 71,000 are on zero hours contracts and a further 43,000 in insecure temporary work.

Researchers estimate 160,000 workers are in low-paid self employment, based on a Social Market Foundation estimate of the proportion of self employed workers on low pay, applied to Scottish estimates of the number of self employed workers.

The research, commissioned by Labour, is based on the Office for National Statistics April-june Labour force survey.