Welfare- to- work Flashcards
Definition
[Deacon & Patrick, 2011]
Refers to policy mechanisms whereby the currently unemployed are encouraged, enabled and where necessary, compelled to take up unpaid work
1985- Conservative ‘Restart’
Those unemployed for over 6 months had to attend job centres and evidence that they were actively job searching. Failure to do so led to sanctions
1996- Conservative Job Seeker’s Allowance
After 6 months of unemployment individuals could apply for jobs seeker allowance. Rights to benefits were means-tested
1998- New Labour’s New Deal
New Deal Schemes
Aims to reduce unemployment and provide skill to improve employability.
Initially set up for 18-24 year but later extended to other groups deemed to drain the state
eg. Lone parents, the disabled.
If claiming job seekers allowance for over 4 months, it is required that with a jobs advisor.
Failure to find work leaves them with 4 alternative unpaid options- Voluntary work, further education for up to a year, subsided job or environmental project.
Refusal to take a job or accept training results in their benefits being stopped for 14 days. This is then raised to a month is they refuse the 4 unpaid options
1998- New Labour’s New Deal
Making Work Pay
aims to improve welfare of those who are already in employment. Policies introduced include:
• 2000 employment relations act-
• Tax credits- provides better income for those working low paid jobs
• 1999 minimum wage Act- guaranteed minimum for all those in employment
• Easier access and more affordable childcare
eg. Paternity leave
Was the New Deal a success?
•Freud discussed the decrease in unemployment, especially among those aged 18-24
•However causality cannot be assumed for this data. Was this trend due to the New Deal schemes or other factors like general economic growth or an increase in job availability
•Ignores in-work poverty.
Morris et al calculated at an 18-24 year old on minimum wage would have to work 51 hours per week to sustain a healthy lifestyle
Coaltion Government: Work Programmes
Replaced welfare- to- work schemes with work programmes
•Provided training, work experience and mentoring for up to 2 years to help improve employability*
•Participation is mandatory and those who fail to meet the conditions are sanctioned
•Delivered to private and voluntary organisations who are paid by results
- 2012 Sanctions: 3 levels-
1) Highest- loses benefit for up to 136 weeks if individual voluntarily leaves a job 3 times
2) Intermediate- Loss of benefit for up to 13 weeks if a rule is broken
3) Lower- Loss of benefit for 13 weeks if there is a lack of participation, e.g. Not attending an interview with the job center - 1.73 sanctions per person on average
- Over 1 million people sanctioned
- Approx. 25,000 incorrect sanctions
Success of Work Programmes
Data suggests it’s only short term effective:
- 22% of those (331,000 people) who spent sufficient time on the programme had at least three/six months in work
- However… only 7% (103,000 people) had more sustained work after two years
- 70% of those (568,000 people) who completed the programme returned to Job Centre after two years
Criticisms
The current programmes adopt an adult-worker model of citizenship which:
devalues unpaid work (Levitas 1998) neglects the non-remunerated contributions of carers, volunteers, service users, parents, etc.
ignore that paid work does not always yield the benefits (e.g. raised self-esteem, escape from poverty and reduced inequality) that are attributed to it – as these depend on the quality of work being undertaken
ignores the potentially damaging effects of imposing sanctions upon those claimants who ‘fail’ to keep to their side of the contract (or to fulfill their personal responsibilities as an active citizen)
focuses on personal responsibility but neglect the social, economic and political factors affecting one’s ability to keep to their side of the contract
Relevance to Social Policy
**Citizenship – Welfare-to-work is part of the changing conceptualisation of citizenship from predominantly rights to a balance of rights and responsibilities.
**Need to risk – Need-based systems have arguably created benefit recipients who are averse to risk taking. New Deal encourages individual risk taking through retraining and entry into labour market
**Globalisation – Welfare-to-work programmes are a policy solution sought by nation states to remain within the constraints set by the global economy. Keeps state overheads to a minimum so that tax regimes upon corporations would remain low.
