Conservative Conference 2010: Government warned over unrealistic youth employment expectations
Ravi Chandiramani
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The government has been warned to check its expectations for moving unemployed young people from welfare into work through its proposed universal benefit system.
At a Tory conference fringe meeting, Institute for Employment Studies director Nigel Meager said: "These changes are happening at a time of genuine lack of demand in the labour market." He said areas such as the north east of England, where the manufacturing base was decimated in the 1980s, are now particularly vulnerable to cuts given their present-day reliance on public sector employment."
Meager said: "We need to be more modest in what we can achieve. In my view, it will be a success to keep [unemployment] numbers where they are now."
He added that once the long-term unemployed are found work, there would need to be a system of "after-care" for employers to keep them in work.
Turning Point chief executive Lord Victor Adebowale warned that the government has not thought sufficiently about its strategy of growth to complement the welfare reforms.
Adebowale welcomed the proposals for a single universal work-based benefit, while warning the devil would be in the detail: "I would be pleased if we can have a simple system managed by the individual in need without stigma. The description of the single benefit is near to nirvana."
Welfare reform minister Lord David Freud said of the plans: "We’re not only making it worth working but making it transparently worth working. We are transforming social attitudes to work. The dynamic and behavioural benefits will be multiplied beyond the economic benefits."
Meager said: "We need to be more modest in what we can achieve. In my view, it will be a success to keep [unemployment] numbers where they are now."
He added that once the long-term unemployed are found work, there would need to be a system of "after-care" for employers to keep them in work.
Turning Point chief executive Lord Victor Adebowale warned that the government has not thought sufficiently about its strategy of growth to complement the welfare reforms.
Adebowale welcomed the proposals for a single universal work-based benefit, while warning the devil would be in the detail: "I would be pleased if we can have a simple system managed by the individual in need without stigma. The description of the single benefit is near to nirvana."
Welfare reform minister Lord David Freud said of the plans: "We’re not only making it worth working but making it transparently worth working. We are transforming social attitudes to work. The dynamic and behavioural benefits will be multiplied beyond the economic benefits."
