Welfare Reform on the Web (December 2001): Social Security - UK - New Deal

ARE SPATIALLY FOCUSED INITIATIVES IN CURRENT ECONOMIC INCLUSION POLICIES WELL FOUNDED?

J. Adams, M. Greig and R. W. McQuaid

Local Economy, vol. 16, 2001, p. 236-248

A sample of 169 unemployed job-seekers in two Travel to Work areas in central Scotland was divided into those who were successful and those who were unsuccessful in finding work, and each group was analysed in terms of a set of labour market related attributes. The study generated a "typical" profile for those who were successful in job search and a "typical" profile for those who were less successful. Results suggest that job search success depended on personal attributes, not on where the job-seeker happened to live. This suggests that any attempt in the New Deal to focus on spatially defined areas may be ill-conceived.

AVOIDING THE NEW DEAL: A CASE STUDY OF NON-PARTICIPATION BY MINORITY ETHNIC YOUNG PEOPLE

V. S. Kalra, E. A. Fieldhouse, and S. Alam

Youth and Policy, no. 72, 2001, p. 63-79

Article examines the reasons for avoidance of the New Deal for Young People (NDYP) by focusing on the experiences of young people who have become eligible for the New Deal but have not participated. The three main reasons for non-participation are:

• getting a job;
• deliberate non-attendance;
• inability to participate for a variety of family reasons.

Those who deliberately avoided the New Deal had often had poor experience of previous training schemes and believed that it would not deliver "a proper job".

SOCIAL CAPITAL OR LOCAL WORKFARISM? REFLECTIONS ON EMPLOYMENT ZONES

M. Jones and A. Gray

Local Economy, vol. 16, 2001, p. 178-186

Argues that there is a shift within Employment Zones