Employment Policies and the Struggle Against Workers

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Employment Policies and the Struggle Against
Workers Poverty The Social Investment State in
Liberal Welfare Regimes

• Jane Jenson and Pascale Dufour

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I - The Post-War Period Employment Policy as a
protection against social risk II - The Period
of Retrenchment Employability problematic III -
The Redesign of Welfare The Social Investment
State
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The Post-War Period
Representation of social problems stable image
of working life stable image family life
low of unemployment
Mainly breadwinner model
Unemployment accidental and temporary
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Source OECD Employment and Labour Statistics.
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State Responses Unemployment Insurance UK
1948 National Insurance Act Canada 1940 first
Unemployment insurance Training and Education
policies Some specific elements for women in
Canada Social Assistance system for those not
able to work
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The Retrenchment Period
Risks are changing
New target of public action unemployed people
and their employability
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State response
Reduction of unemployment insurance system
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Development of active policies
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Still an individual and family problem
The Work-Family nexus
Consequences development of new types of poverty
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Redesign of Welfare the Building of Social
Investment State
Risk Working Poor
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New Work opportunities for highly qualified
workers
Source Department of Trade and Industry. 1998.
Building the Knowledge Driven Economy.
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Source The Canadian Workforce Statistics on the
Canadian Workforce from the 2001 Canada Census.
Canada Online.
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Bi-polarisation of work market
Source Statistics Canada. Income Trends in
Canada 1980-2001.
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Source UK National Statistics. 2003. Income
Inequality Gap Widens Slightly from mid-1990s.
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Framework of Social Investment State Two types of
discourses Investing today will bring some
benefits in the future Investment today will
lead to economy in the future Two types of
actions Innovation and excellence policy
Prevention and fight against social exclusion
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Specific measures Promotion of life-long learning
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Fight against poverty and especially child
poverty National Child Benefit in Canada
/Employment Tax Credit
Source OECD. Social Expenditure Database.
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Making work payMinimum wage in GB / bonus
for social assistance recipients who work
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Restrictions in social assistance provisions
Source OECD. Social Expenditure Database.
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Source Derived from OECD. Social Expenditure
Database.
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Popularity of Welfare to work programsStrategy
of work first / active measures / short-term
training
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Specific target on lone mothers
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• Work/Family Nexus
• Conciliation between the two become a problem for
  everybody
• Solutions and actions are strongly different,
  depending on the society considered.

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• Conclusion
• In the field of employment policies, the Social
  Investment States are characterized by
• Polarization of discourses that target two
  different groups of workers (but the reference of
  the boarder is no more the market but the nature
  of work)
• Actions only for the most in needs (social
  assistance became, in fact, the main tool of
  employment policies)
• Universality of thinking (and actions?) around
  the work-family conciliation problematic