According to a new analysis from national charity Citizens Advice, 4.5 million people in England and Wales are in insecure work, where they have no regular hours or predictable shift.

The figures reveal over 2.3 million people are working variable shift patterns, with an additional 1.1 million on temporary contracts and a further 800,000 are on either zero hour or agency contracts.

John Nurthen, Executive Director of Global Research at Staffing Industry Analysts said: “While it’s important that we look at the implications of job insecurity, labelling all such work as insecure is inaccurate. The majority of people working on temporary contracts will know in advance what hours and shifts they are expected to do and, furthermore, many will have opted to do this work as a positive lifestyle choice. It’s also very strange that Citizens Advice chose to bundle zero hour contracts and agency contracts together when calculating their figures as they are quite distinct categories.”

Survey findings in a new Citizens Advice briefing published today also show that people rate a steady, reliable income (92%) as just as important as the level of take-home pay (93%) when they are looking for work.

Opportunities in terms of experience (84%), being passionate about the role (82%) and progression at work (74%) and are considered less of a priority. ‘The importance of income security’ report also reveals that employers have more to gain from their staff if people have a secure income, with 83% of people in work saying a steady job with regular pay increases productivity and 86% report it increases their loyalty towards employers.

Citizens Advice warns that the importance of a stable job and secure income is at risk of being overshadowed by a single focus on income level.  It says recent changes to boost working people’s income such as the introduction of the National Living Wage and raising the personal tax allowance threshold are welcome but urgently need to be complemented by efforts to improve people's security at work.

“Income security is the overlooked piece of the labour market puzzle,” Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said. “While for some people working shifts or temporary contracts may provide the flexibility they want, many others struggle to balance the books in the face of such insecure employment. We’ve found that when people are looking for work, getting a steady income is just as important to them as what they’ll be paid.

Previous research with staff and volunteers from across the Citizens Advice network found 83% of people with fluctuating work patterns seeking the charities’ help were struggling with debt and 87% faced delays or problems with in work benefits such as work tax credits and housing benefit.

“Having a steady, reliable income is fundamental to how secure people feel and is key if the government wants to achieve its ambition of a high wage, low welfare economy,” Guy said. “Offering people a secure income is also in the interest of employers, as it boosts staff morale and productivity."