The concept of a job dates back to the 19th century. Before that most people worked more informally. The industrial revolution needed workers who could create buildings, machinery or products. Their hours may have been long but everyone knew their niche in the economy. The idea that all of us should have a job persists but it may be an out-of-date view.
Let me introduce you to a dark corner of the labour market. It's filled with people who want to work. But their life circumstances mean they can't take a job. They may be carers, responsible for a dependent adult, or they may have a recurring medical condition. Complex childcare issues may determine the hours they are available for work. Or they may be attempting to start their own business.
Life is tough if you have a few hours when you could work today and possibly a few more tomorrow. Recruitment agencies and jobcentres can't deliver odd bits of work on demand. But employers do need top-up workers for short bursts in peak periods. Think of the caterer dealing with a lunchtime rush or a retailer with heavy footfall expected later this afternoon. The public sector has a huge requirement for local ultra-flexible workforces. This could be employment for the 21st century.
Five years ago the government funded the launch of online marketplaces in which anyone could sell their spare hours to local employers. Amy Sutton, 24, from west London, is one of thousands of "slivers-of-time workers". With a history of depression going back six years, she needed employment that would fit around the good days. At her mother's urging she registered with an agency offering slivers-of-time work. She told its website her hourly rate, set her personal rules about the bookings she would do and then input some hours of availability for the following day.
A six-hour booking stuffing envelopes at her local council arrived in a text. Amy texted back her "Yes" code and other bookings followed; an hour of targeted public health outreach, a few hours for a charity. The system ensured that payment was transferred to her account the following week. As her confidence developed, she allowed the bookings to get longer. Now she is applying for a conventional job.
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I have been programme director of slivers-of-time working (sliversoftime.info) since its inception. We have done okay, but we haven't cracked the problem of labour market rigidity on anything like the scale intended. The barrier is that so much of the government's efforts are focused solely on "job creation". This means few local authorities will engage people like Amy, however much they may need the cost-saving flexibility. Even when the work is there, the benefits system can be hideously complex for anyone who wants to work their way off welfare.
The rules do allow some claimants to work while on benefits, but the regulations are intricate. Here is a broad summary: if you are on jobseeker's allowance you are expected to spend every hour looking for a job, so no earnings are permitted. Anyone on incapacity benefit or its replacement, the employment and support allowance, can do up to 16 hours' work a week.
In reality, it can take real courage to do an hour or so of work if you are relying on state support. Secondary benefits, which cover housing, school meals and other essentials, are applied locally and can be imperilled by any paid work. The administration of benefits tends to be a world in which people are expected either to have a job or to be on their way to one. There's little comfort for those who want to find their way in the grey zone between the two. That's unfortunate because, for some people, an hour's work could be life-changing.
We also need to understand that online marketplaces could create all sorts of economic activity. There are a variety of services that enterprising people may want to sell: vehicle valeting, dog walking, laundry, home hairdressing, babysitting, personalised tuition, clothing alterations, ad hoc cleaning, putting up flat-pack furniture and assistance with home computers. Like micro bursts of formal work, this is economic opportunity that is barely happening in the legitimate economy.
The government could repeat the formula used to initiate the national lottery. The government didn't fund, design or implement the lottery. Instead, it created the official underpinning and let the private sector compete to deliver the vision.
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Official underpinning for a system of advanced e-markets could deliver a constant flow of opportunity to anybody in the UK. The benefits system would have to encourage whatever work was appropriate. It's all possible. But politicians have to think beyond jobs.
Wingham Rowan is author of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation paper Can Online Markets Tackle Poverty? It will be launched with an event at the RSA, London, on January 28