scholarly journals Welfare-to-Work: Which Policies Work and Why?

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
RICHARD BLUNDELL
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
New Deal ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Welfare To Work ◽  
Means Testing ◽  
Iron Triangle ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Working Families ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The New Deal

This chapter considers the arguments behind the expansion in welfare-to-work programmes that occurred over the last decade, and reviews the effectiveness of alternative approaches to enhancing labour-market attachment and earnings among the low skilled. It concerns the ‘iron triangle’ of welfare reform — that is the three, often conflicting, goals: raising the living standards of those on low incomes; encouraging work and economic self-sufficiency; and keeping government costs low. Section 2 considers the labour-market trends that stimulated the New Deal and Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) reforms in the UK. Section 3 considers a number of central design features, focusing on time limits, means testing and implicit tax rates, minimum hours requirements, welfare receipt eligibility, and wage progression. This is done in the context of the design of the New Deal and of the WFTC. Section 4 moves on to evaluate specific aspects of the New Deal and WFTC reforms. Section 5 concludes with an overview of these schemes and their effectiveness, and an assessment of the appropriate design of welfare-to-work and make-work-pay programmes.

Employment strategies for Europe: lessons from Denmark and the Netherlands

1999 ◽  
Vol 168 ◽  
pp. 82-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray Barrell ◽  
Veronique Genre
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
New Deal ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Real Wages ◽  
Wage Moderation ◽  
Part Time ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The New Deal

Labour market reform has become a central policy issue for many European countries, and there are lessons to learn for the further development of the New Deal in the UK. We discuss reforms in Denmark and the Netherlands, and look at their implication for employment and earnings. The Dutch started a sequence of reforms in the early 1980s based around wage moderation. Real wages per person hour rose less rapidly than elsewhere in Europe, and employment rose more strongly. Other reforms made the labour market more flexible, and many part-time jobs were created. The Dutch can claim to have succeeded in improving their labour market preformance. The Danes started serious reforms in the 1990s, and individuals on social benefits have a right and a duty to be activated. Registered unemployment has fallen sharply as a result of these New Deal style policies, but only some of these individuals have moved into employment. Increased flexibility, moderate real wage growth and active support for job-seekers all seem to help reduce unemployment and raise employment. Evidence from Denmark and the Netherlands suggests that making work relatively more rewarding helps to reduce inactivity and unemployment.

Learning the lessons from banding appeals

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Moreton ◽  
Emma Jackson ◽  
Yasmin Ahmed-Little
Keyword(s):  
New Deal ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Junior Doctor ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Content Type ◽  
North West ◽  
Ward Rounds ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The New Deal ◽  
Supply Information

Purpose – Designing and running robust junior doctor rotas is a challenging task and much previous advice has been based on consensus or anecdote. This paper aims to discern the most frequently occurring problems with trainee working patterns and produce evidence-based guidance for implementing and running contract-compliant rotas. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 35 secondary care trusts in North West England were invited to supply information on pay banding appeals requested under the New Deal junior doctor contract. Of these, 15 (43 per cent) participated with data from 35 appeals between 2004 and 2012. A thematic analysis was undertaken to discern the commonly occurring causes of contractual breaches. Findings – A total of 83 per cent (n=29/35) of appeals were based on data showing the rota to be non-compliant with the contract (band 3), with the remainder being compliant with the contract but not in keeping with the pay banding currently assigned. Inability to take adequate natural breaks was the most frequently cited cause of rota non-compliance. Where underlying reasons were given for breaches of hours/rest limits they clustered around 20 themes, the top four being poor or absent dialogue between HR and doctors, excessive workload, inappropriately timed ward rounds, and inadequate or non-existent bleep policies. Originality/value – This is the first analysis of banding appeals under the UK junior doctor contract. The findings show that problems with rotas cluster around specific themes. The authors provide recommendations to target these so as to avoid financially detrimental contract breaches and trainee dissatisfaction.

Mapping the New Deal: local disparities in the performance of Welfare-to-Work

2001 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 484-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Sunley ◽  
Ron Martin ◽  
Corinne Nativel
Keyword(s):  
New Deal ◽  
Welfare To Work ◽  
The New Deal

The Demand-Side of Active Labour Market Policies: A Regional Study of Employer Engagement in the Work Programme

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
JO INGOLD ◽  
MARK STUART
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
Welfare To Work ◽  
Regional Study ◽  
Regional Survey ◽  
Active Labour Market Policy ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
Employer Engagement ◽  
Work Programme ◽  
The Uk

AbstractIn 2011, the UK Coalition government introduced its flagship welfare-to-work programme, ‘The Work Programme’ (WP). Based on a ‘payment by results’ model, it aims to incentivise contracted providers to move participants into sustained employment. Employer involvement is central to the programme's success and this paper explores the ‘two faces’ of this neglected dimension of active labour market policy (ALMP) analysis: employer involvement with the programme and the engagement between providers and employers. This paper draws empirically from a regional survey of primarily private and third sector SMEs, and from interviews with providers and stakeholders about provider engagement with SMEs and large employers. Findings indicate that SMEs had recruited few staff through the WP and had little awareness of it, and that providers engaged in intense competition to access both SMEs and large employers. Employers are critical to the success of ALMPs, but an underpinning supply-side ideology and a regulatory context in which business interest associations are weak policy actors means that their involvement is based on implicit and flawed assumptions about employers’ interests and their propensity to engage.

Americanised and Europeanised: UK Social Policy since 1997

2003 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 143-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Annesley
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
New Deal ◽  
New Labour ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Lone Parents ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The New Deal

A number of recent accounts of UK social policy under New Labour have emphasised the continuing Americanisation of the British welfare state. This article does not deny the influence of the US but rather seeks to balance it with an account of the growing Europeanisation of UK social policy. It argues that Americanisation and Europeanisation are distinct in terms of both content and process. Since these are not mutually exclusive, the UK is currently influenced by both. This situation is illustrated by looking at three social policy issues under New Labour: social exclusion, the New Deal and the treatment of lone parents.

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