THE Senedd election results showed Wales’s growing electoral divergence from England.

The new Welsh Labour government should now use its mandate to accelerate policy divergence from Westminster too. 

The First Minister should feel emboldened to use the political capital that he’s won to reshape the Welsh economy in a way that provides real results for working people. 

Throughout the Covid crisis our lower-paid workers were once again hit hardest. 

If you were in an insecure job before the crisis hit, you were at greater risk of living in poverty and all the life-limiting things that come with that.

And during the pandemic you were at greater risk of dying from Covid and 10 times less likely to receive sick pay than those in secure employment.

The inequality is stark and cruel, and it was the reality for more than one in 10 workers. 

The new Welsh government must recognise how harmful insecure work is.

It hurts individuals and it hurts society. For example, the state had to step in to provide financial assistance to those who didn’t receive proper sick pay when they needed to self-isolate. Insecure work effectively transfers the costs from the employer to the state. 

Too often our approach during economic recoveries has been underpinned by the idea that any job is better than no job. 

But the dire state of our labour market is chipping away at this principle. The sharp increase in the in-work poverty rate over the last decade undermines the idea that a job is a guaranteed route out of poverty. 

We need to question what role the Welsh state plays in any recovery.

We don’t want anyone who wants a job to be unable to find one. But we also don’t want the state to encourage or even compel someone to accept a job that could trap them in poverty and harm their mental health. 

There are two solutions and both rely on politicians having more ambition. 

First, the Welsh government needs to ensure that our devolved employability schemes — those initiatives which help people to find and progress in work — are geared towards getting people a good, secure job. Everyone should be aware of their rights and worth to that employer. 

Second, Welsh government should invest in a jobs creation plan — incorporating ideas like a national retrofit programme — where good jobs and sustainable careers are a guaranteed outcome.

It needs to work with trade unions and employers to make sure that bad jobs are written out. 

If the Welsh government allows the market alone to determine labour outcomes, the recovery will inevitably replicate the many existing forms of labour exploitation. This is what happened after the last recession.  

Our Covid recovery effort must be grounded in lived experience. It must aim for a labour market where every job lifts that person out of poverty and improves their mental wellbeing. Aspiring for any less than this would be irresponsible.   

Shavanah Taj is general secretary of the Wales TUC.