Current Employment Policy Paradigms in the UK, Sweden and Germany

This chapter provides an overview of the book by drawing out four key themes which emerged through the chapters as of key significance for understanding youth employability in the United Kingdom: regionality, social inequality, liminality and risk. Taking each of these in turn, the chapter demonstrates how the pervasive force of neoliberalism shapes youth employment policy and youth labour markets in the diverse regions of the UK. In order to ‘get in’ and then to ‘get on’, Britain’s young people must demonstrate neoliberal qualities such as individualisation, responsibilisation and resilience to risk. At the same time, the ability to perform this version of the self is powerfully shaped by social structure.

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The Work Research Foundation

Concepts and Transformation ◽

10.1075/cat.6.3.04enn ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 259-273 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Richard Ennals ◽

Peter Totterdill ◽

Campbell Ford

Keyword(s):

Work Organization ◽

Leading Edge ◽

Working Life ◽

Northern Europe ◽

Employment Policy ◽

Support Organizations ◽

Opt Out ◽

Business Support ◽

Workplace Innovation ◽

The Uk

Despite its early contributions to the development of working life research the UK has lagged behind much of the rest of Northern Europe in establishing a coherent approach to the modernization of work organization. The removal of tripartite structures by the Thatcher and Major governments and their decision to opt out of significant areas of European employment policy left the UK ill-prepared to respond to emerging economic or policy challenges in Europe. Evidence of an increasing gap between leading-edge practice and common practice in UK workplaces has emerged forcibly as a key issue for future productivity and employment. The UK Work Organization Network (UK WON) was first established in 1996 as a coalition between researchers, business support organizations and social partners, slowly building a portfolio of projects designed to support workplace innovation. More recently the creation of the Work Research Foundation, a partnership-based company with responsibility for managing the activities of the Network, firmly establishes UK WON as a significant vehicle for social dialogue and organizational change.

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Walking into the Footprint of EU Law: Unpacking the Gendered Consequences of Brexit

Social Policy and Society ◽

10.1017/s1474746417000501 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 319-330 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Roberta Guerrina ◽

Annick Masselot

Keyword(s):

National Level ◽

Eu Law ◽

The European Union ◽

Employment Policy ◽

Gender Policy ◽

Gender Regimes ◽

And Gender ◽

The Uk ◽

The Relationship ◽

The Eu

This article explores the gendered nature of the process of withdrawing from the European Union. Considering the EU is widely accepted as a gender actor, particularly in the context of employment policy, the marginality of these issues in current debates reflects a hierarchy in the value attributed to different policy areas that crystallizes the high-low politics binary. European led initiatives have undoubtedly changed the nature of equality policies in the Member States. Recent studies have also outlined how, and to what extent, EU policy contributes to shifts in gender regimes, gender policy and gender relations at the national level. Women in the UK have benefited greatly from membership of the EU/EEC; thus, looking at Brexit as a process provides a unique opportunity to reflect on the relationship, and patterns of influence, between European and national legislation.

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Are we working less? An examination of changing UK labour supply decisions since the 1990s

Journal of Economic Studies ◽

10.1108/jes-07-2019-0333 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 35-61

Author(s):

Paul S. Jones ◽

Muhammad Ali Nasir

Keyword(s):

Financial Crisis ◽

Labour Market ◽

Labour Supply ◽

Global Financial Crisis ◽

Labour Force ◽

Social Implications ◽

Employment Policy ◽

Hours Worked ◽

Content Type ◽

The Uk

PurposeThis purpose of the study is to examine the labour supply decisions with respect to earnings and considers whether we are willing or indeed able to work less. The authors specifically focus on the three points of time, i.e. beginning of the sample, pre and post Global Financial Crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe study regression analysis by utilises microdata from the UK Labour Force Survey (LFS) regarding individual hours worked in three separate survey periods: 1994q2, 2007q2 and 2015q2FindingsThe results suggest that we are far from income-satiated. The elasticity of hours worked with respect to earnings is stubbornly inelastic and for some demographic cohorts positive, implying the desire to work more. The authors find that job flexibility matters in facilitating reduced hours of work, but that jobs are not becoming more flexible. The authors also do see a secular reduction in hours worked, accompanied by a shift to working later in life, but these appear to be down to factors other than higher wages.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has important research implications in terms of understanding the dynamics of the labour market on the whole and in the pre and post global financial crisis periods.Practical implicationsThe research has profound policy implication in terms of labour and employment policy.Social implicationsThere are important social implications, particularly in terms of household labour supply decisions and substitution between work and leisure.Originality/valueThe study has significant element of originality in terms of understanding the changing dynamics of labour market. This is the first study which has investigated the labour market in the light of empirical evidence and in the various time periods.

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Advancing Gender Equality through European Employment Policy: The Impact of the UK's EU Membership and the Risks of Brexit

Social Policy and Society ◽

10.1017/s1474746417000458 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 297-317 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Colette Fagan ◽

Jill Rubery

Keyword(s):

Gender Equality ◽

Social Model ◽

Gender Mainstreaming ◽

Economic Policies ◽

Employment Policy ◽

Eu Membership ◽

The Social ◽

Democratic Principles ◽

The Uk ◽

The Impact

This article examines the development of the EU's gender equality framework of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ law, including the incomplete gender mainstreaming of the European Employment Strategy. It highlights contradictions, rooted in political tensions between the social democratic principles which underpin the European Social Model, and the promotion of neo-liberal economic policies. It assesses the UK's role in shaping this European framework, and the framework's impact on the UK's employment policy. It concludes that Brexit will harm the pursuit of gender equality in the UK due to decoupling from the EU's equality framework and policy pathway. An additional risk is greater insularity in UK policy making through reduced exposure to the Open Method of Coordination. Brexit may, however, help progress gender equality in the rest of the EU if the outcome is greater unity focussed on an inclusive employment policy without the UK dragging its heels in favour of deregulated flexibility.

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