Addressing worklessness post the financial crisis

This chapter raises issues about welfare-to-work policies and how they are currently evaluated. It first explores the influence of the 2008/09 recession in terms of different groups in the labour market and social cohesion. The chapter then questions the conditional welfare and the ‘work first’ policy. After this, it considers the wider outcomes and how a more holistic approach to evaluation could be developed. Problems were already emerging before the 2008/09 recession really started to bite in terms of unemployment. During the 2008/09 recession, it became more difficult to justify the lack of focus on the demand side. An alternative approach to policy and frameworks for evaluation is described. It has been argued that, if long-term unemployment is really going to be reduced, the focus on the supply side is insufficient and must be combined with an increased focus on the demand side