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Unemployment and Labour Market Policies and Programmes in Britain: Experience and Evaluation

Brian Towers is Professor of Industrial Relations, Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, 50 Richmond Street, Glasgow G I IXT, Scotland

Although high unemployment and the search for solutions are widespread among most industrialized countries, the purpose of this article is to review and assess British experience, especially in the past twenty years.

Using the OECD distinction Britain, as other countries, continues to spend substantially more on the 'passive' measures of unemployment compensation and redundancy payments than on 'active' measures to create jobs, develop job skills and encourage more active job search. Within the active group, although training remains important, its development, funding and implementation have recently been devolved to regional agencies while job search has been given additional funding and a higher policy profile.

This shift towards short-term approaches to unemployment may prove to be an error, given the long-term implications for British attempts to raise skill levels. However, policy remains in flux. Alternative means of reducing unemployment and creating jobs are discussed, including those that incorporate macroeconomic stimuli alongside supply-side measures. These alternatives are currently under active dis cussion in the European union and among other leading industrialized countries. For Britain, such a radical shift in policy is unlikely without a change in government.

Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 36, No. 3, 370-393 (1994)
DOI: 10.1177/002218569403600304


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