Policy

Conditionality and employment outcomes: DWP report

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published a research paper that reviews efficacy in the operation of conditionality in the UK welfare state over that past decade. The paper concludes that conditionality policy should:

• help people overcome the issues that stop them moving towards employment; 
• be combined with personal support tailored to people’s individual circumstances; and 
• ensure that expectations are reasonable and that sanctions are proportionate.

More support, higher expectations: the role of conditionality in improving employment outcomes. (scroll down to heading More support, higher expectations)


ELSA: extending working lives

Chapter 2 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) looks at extending working lives. The third wave of the study found that employment at older ages has been increasing in recent years, and that younger cohorts have higher employment rates at each age than their predecessors. It also examined the factors that influence whether people leave or return to work. For example, men respond to the financial incentives for retirement provided in private pensions.

Living in the 21st century: older people in England. The 2006 English longitudinal study of ageing (Wave 3). Chapter 2: Extending working lives.
Tel: 020 7291 4800 (Institute for Fiscal Studies) 

Employment services: JRF report

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published a review of problems and solutions in the benefit and employment services system. The review found that although overall satisfaction with service delivery seems high, a number of problems exist. These include complexity in the benefits system, poor information and written communications, lost documentation, benefit payment delays and reduced options available for face-to-face contact.

Delivering benefits, tax credits and employment services: problems for disadvantaged users and potential solutions.
Tel: 01904 629241 (Joseph Rowntree Foundation)


EU employment guidelines: Council approval

The Council of Employment and Social Policy Ministers has approved EU employment guidelines, calling for only for modest amendments to the existing strategy. The guidelines state that member states should continue to make efforts to address the priority areas of:

• attracting and retaining more people in employment; 
• increasing labour supply and modernising social protection systems; 
• improving adaptability of workers and enterprises; and 
• increasing investment in human capital through better education and skills.

Proposal for a council decision on the guidelines for the employment policies of the member states: political agreement.


Learning for living: Help the Aged report

Help the Aged has published a report which highlights the importance of adult learning, especially to prevent older people from drifting into isolation and exclusion. The report calls for the government and employers to ensure that age discrimination in relation to learning opportunities is eradicated and that age discrimination be made unlawful, either under the proposed Equality Bill or through specific legislation.

Learning for Living: helping to prevent social exclusion among older people.
Tel: 020 7278 1114 (Help the Aged)


Welfare reform: DWP consultation

The Department for Work and Pensions has published a consultation, entitled No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility, on the future of welfare. It sets out plans for improving support and work incentives to create a system that rewards responsibility. It makes proposals to introduce legislation to increase claimants’ obligations to work, including tougher sanctions for those who fail to take steps to get back into work or refuse to take a job.

No one written off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility.
Tel: 0845 702 3474 (Stationery Office)


 

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