Welfare to Work — From Special Measures to 80 Per Cent Employment

Abstract

After 15 years of consistent growth in the labour markets of Britain, North America and most of Europe, 2009 is turning out to be a difficult time to implement further welfare reform. In the UK, however, the pace of change has never been faster -just as one phase is being implemented, another even bolder plan is announced to make almost everyone on benefits actively seek or prepare themselves for work. At the same time, the Government recognises that it cannot raise the employment rate to 80 per cent, eradicate child poverty by 2020 or achieve disability equality by 2025 without devolving much of the planning and implementation of welfare to work and skills. Just as the country has reeled from the onset of a recession, the Government has announced plans intended to avoid a repeat of experience from previous recessions -and thereby avoid 'today's job losses becoming tomorrow's scars on our communities'.In this special edition of Local Economy, we critically examine the new policy drivers and assess whether these are logically consistent and capable of delivery. And we do so at a strikingly tough moment for labour markets across the world and in the UK especially. Whilst public decisiontakers press on with a policy framework designed in good times, we reflect on its implementation in a more volatile and less predictable labour

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