Latest figures show almost 900,000 workers are on zero hour contracts in the UK, amid growing concern about the rise of insecure jobs among the youngest and oldest workers. Trade unions said the figures confirmed the government has “failed to crack down on unfair employment practices” as the official figures showed a 15 per cent spike in workers on zero hour contracts in the past year.

Some 896,000 people, or just over 1 in 40 people in employment, are on the contracts where workers are on call but not guaranteed any work, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures.

The number of zero hour workers aged 65 or over has also increased by 30 per cent in the past year, while the proportion of 16-24-year-old workers on zero hours now stands at 8.8 per cent.

Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, commented: “It’s no surprise zero hours contracts are rising when ministers have failed to crack down on unfair employment practices. The government must ban zero hours contracts so that all workers can have solid jobs with full workers’ rights.” A TUC analysis this year found working hours for those on zero hours contracts are more likely to be anti-social and “unhealthy”. It revealed zero hours workers are twice as likely as those on fixed-hours contracts to be working night shifts, and also twice as likely to be working seven days a week. Night working has been shown to increase long-term health impacts, such as heart disease, shortened life expectancy and an increased risk of cancer.