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. A diverse group of neighbours going on a group walk in a residential area, warpped up in warm coats

    From strangers to citizens: Membership and belonging in an age of migration

    Who should become a British citizen in an age of growing mobility and migration?
  2. The Scottish parliament building rises in the backdrop, foregrounded by a pond, trees and a lawn. Blue skies overhead

    Rebuilding Scotland's "New Politics": a constructive parliament to build trust in Scottish politics

    Political disillusionment is growing in Scotland, and policy is not delivering. MSPs who did not stand for re-election this year share how the parliament currently works and could be improved.

  3. Harry Quilter-Pinner discusses rising borrowing costs on BBC News