Jobs for the future: The path back to full employment in the UK

Article

A higher employment rate would in the long-term ease some of the problems faced by successive governments in the UK. It would mean higher taxes and lower welfare payments, simultaneously making balancing the budget easier and ensuring sufficient funds are available for universal services such as health and education.

However the path back to full employment will not be an easy one. Evidence suggests that the public sector has been filling in for insufficient private sector job creation over the last 20 years. One certainty in the next few years is that public sector employment will fall, so if private sector employment does not increase rapidly, the economic recovery is likely to be weak or not 'jobs rich'. As it stands, the Coalition government's plans for growth and job creation will be insufficient to meet the combined challenges of high unemployment and growing labour supply over the next few years..

This report's recommendations focus on promoting growth in employment and limiting the expansion of long-term unemployment.

Related items

  1. View of Bank of England, Royal Exchange, and Duke of Wellington equestrian statue (1844) with skyscrapers and construction in background.

    Navigating in the fog: Why the OBR should hold its nerve on the productivity forecast

    The fiscal watchdog is under pressure to downgrade its forecast, costing the chancellor billions – but this would be premature.
  2. A busy bus full of people of all ages. An older couple smile at a younger woman with a baby in a pushchair

    Everyday concerns: What people want from transport

    Transport has a key role to play in achieving the UK government's missions and improving lives. 
  3. An unrecognisable woman playing a slot machine in a social club

    Reforming gambling taxation: How to lift half a million children out of poverty

    A key priority for the government’s upcoming child poverty strategy should be to remove the two-child limit and scrap the household benefit cap.