On the evening of May 26, the third lecture of "2022 Global Flexible Employment Era and Expanding Social Protection Serial Lectures" was held online, which was organized by the CULR and co-organized by the Labor Relations Branch of the Chinese Association of Human Resource Development. Dr. Cao Xuebing, Senior Lecturer of Human Resources Management at Keele Business School, Keele University was invited to make a presentation titled The Present Status of Income Distribution Gap in the UK and its Countermeasures and Inspiration. The lecture was attended by Professor Fu Deyin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of the CULR, and more than 130 scholars, experts, teachers and students inside and outside the CULR listened online.

In the concluding remark, President Fu Deyin expressed gratitude on behalf of the CULR to Dr. Cao Xuebing for his impressive lecture. He noted that the lecture fully demonstrates the present status and impact of the income gap in the UK and the policy options to narrow such gap and the reasons, which is of enlightening significance to everyone by depicting the income gap issue from multiple perspectives. He also exchanged views with Dr. Cao Xuebing on topics such as the share of wages in British residents' income, and the impact on residents' income caused by the operational income in the pandemic era, and invited Dr. Cao to visit the CULR when the pandemic ends.

In light of his own research outcomes and frontier topics, Dr. Cao Xuebing presented the lecture, centering on the present status of the income distribution gap in the UK and its countermeasures and inspiration. He used detailed data to give an overview of the gap distribution development in the UK from the perspectives of economy, age, sector, region and gender, analyzed the short-term and long-term impact of low engagement of the labor market and home office in the pandemic period on the income distribution and income gap, and dissected the cause of widening resident income in the UK by a multi-dimensional approach with consideration of economic, social and policy factors. In his eye, the UK should advocate positive labor market policies, facilitate opportunities of equality and decent work for employers, improve the quality and income of employment, and expand the bargaining power of trade unions on wages, so as to narrow the wealth gap. He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent inflation exacerbate the country's income distribution gap, but its root causes are the unreasonable policy, economy and labor market structure. Reform that may affect the interests of stakeholders seems to be challenging, but without reform, the wealth gap would keep widening, resulting in deeper social contradictions and hampering the economic sustainability. Therefore, social reform is unavoidable.

In the consultation session, Professor Pan Taiping, Vice Dean of the School of Labor Union and the School of Trade Union Cadres Training of the CULR briefed China's income gap and the governmental measures during the periods of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Five-Year Plans, and elaborated on the roadmap of "expanding the size of the middle-income group, increasing income for people on low incomes, and adjusting excessive incomes" to achieve common prosperity, as well as the role of trade unions in collective bargaining. She noted that inequality is growing worldwide, and the gap in income distribution is an internationally common issue. China intends to improve the institutional guarantee of primary, secondary and tertiary distributions to realize common prosperity. She also had an in-depth discussion with Dr. Cao Xuebing on the measures taken by the British government to address the widening income gap and the role of trade unions in it.

In the interaction session, Associate Professor Zhang Yanhua, Vice Dean of the School of Labor Relations and Human Resources of the CULR and Sun Leiyang, a teacher from Sanjiang University had in-depth discussions with Dr. Cao Xuebing on topics such as the positive practices of the UK in labor market especially in youth employment training, the role of trade unions in collective bargaining and the corresponding challenges.

Dr. Cao Xuebing is presently a senior lecturer of human resources management at Keele Business School, Keele University and his research interests include labor relations, migrant workers, the labor market, trade unions, performance appraisal, wage, work-family conflict, etc. He has led a number of research programs such as "Collective wage negotiation and changing labor relations in China" and "International investment, labor market and labor relations: sustainable development and challenges to Kenya". The ongoing research programs include "The Belt and Road Initiative and decent labor: opportunities and challenges of East African countries", "Human capital and circulation of the new-generation migrant workers", "New thoughts on trade union organizations in platform economy", etc. He has published many theses and acted as an editorial board member for journals like the International Journal of Human Resource Management and HR Asia.

(International Office of Cooperation and Exchange)