My life on a zero hours contract: Plain pasta and no lights
- Published
22-year-old Richard Swan spent 18 months a zero-hours contract
Richard's now a barrista at a big chain of coffee shops, but still remembers his time working on a zero-hours contract.
"At points, once rent was covered, I had £12.50 a week to live off," he says.
Richard's been telling Newsbeat what life was like not knowing how much money he would earn each month.
He spoke to us as the political parties argue over what to do about zero-hours contracts when the election is over.
'Touch and Go'
"I spent 18 months or so on one [a zero-hours contract]. Working full time one week then as minimal as it gets the next," Richard says.
"It was tough," he says. "It was very difficult to budget for the future so it was very touch and go the majority of the time."
He tells us that "at points once rent was covered it was £12.50 a week to live off. And that didn't include electricity, food and other essentials".
"It was basically one of the big sacks of pasta and as many sauces as you can get."
He says he was "basically living like a vegetarian for six weeks at a time".
'Living in the stone age'
"You could get two weeks into a month and be working the full time hours," he explains.
"Then the next two weeks your hours could be slashed, so your wage is effectively halved form that point in."
Richard says finding a more stable job was difficult.
"When you're hungry and eating plain pasta, and your electricity meter has run out and so you're in the stone ages.
"You really don't feel like trying to impress someone else to give you an opportunity."
Ed Miliband announces a policy to clamp down on zero-hours contracts
Labour say they would give employees the right to a regular contract after working regular hours somewhere for three months.
The Conservatives are saying the idea is a threat to jobs, and the Lib Dems say they would ban clauses in these types of contracts that stop people looking for other work.
'Hungry and in the dark'
Now with a job with regular hours Richard says he's much happier.
"It's the security, I may not being earning much on the averages but it's enough to keep money in my pocket, food in cupboards and a roof over my head."
Some surveys suggest that people who are on zero-hours contracts are happier than people in full time work.
But Richard wasn't one of them.
"It's hard to look at the positives when you're hungry and in the dark."
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