Press Story

Leading think tank the ippr is today publishing research from international experts showing that unless there are jobs for people to go to, welfare-to-work programmes will hit a brick wall and be unable to support people into work. Far wider efforts in job creation are required.

Those who are managing to get jobs are not getting the help they need to keep them, or move onto permanent or full time work. With the number of temporary and involuntary part-time workers growing, ippr urges the government to learn the lessons from overseas and our own providers and take more action.

ippr Associate Director Dalia Ben-Galim said:

"The latest unemployment figures highlight the rise in involuntary part-time and temporary work, so now is the time for government to radically re-think how best to support more people into sustainable work.

"Permanent job vacancies simply do not exist for many people. Research has clearly shown that many people are out of work because their short-temporary contracts are ending. Much more effort needs to go into job creation especially of permanent and full-time jobs."

ippr's research, using the experience of experts in the UK and across the world, provides advice for the government in putting together its Work Programme:

A narrow focus on work targets fails to grasp the importance of the quality of jobs.
A wider approach will help achieve lasting outcomes to move people off benefits and into sustainable work.

More than 20 per cent of jobs in the UK are low-paid and there is insufficient demand among UK employers for our increasingly skilled workforce [1]. In addition, the poor quality of many jobs available makes it extremely difficult to meet wider policy objectives - such as tackling financial insecurity, poverty and low levels of social mobility.

Notes
1. K Lawton 2009, Nice Work If You Can Get It, London ippr; UKCES 2009, Ambition 2020: World Class Skills and Jobs for the UK.

ippr's collection Now it's Personal: learning from welfare-to-work advisers from around the world, edited by Dalia Ben-Galim and Alice Sachrajda, is published today (11 August) and features articles from international experts in the field of welfare-to-work.

Previous analysis from ippr on part-time work was published in May 2010. A technical briefing is available at: www.ippr.org/pressreleases/archive.asp?id=3994&fID=284

Contact
Dalia Ben-Galim, Associate Director: 020 7470 6153 / d.ben-galim@ippr.org
Nyta Mann, Media Manager: 020 7470 6112 / 07979 602065 / n.mann@ippr.org