Now It's Personal: Learning from welfare-to-work approaches around the world
Article
Personalisation - tailored support offered to help people (back) into work - has become a dominant feature of many welfare regimes around the world. The role of the personal adviser is an important aspect of offering more flexible, tailored support into work. While the language may differ from country to country, the challenges that many governments face, such as reducing their welfare bills and improving cost effectiveness, are similar, as is the move towards a focus on getting people into decent jobs that they then retain.
These essays strengthen the case for citizen-centred welfare. They provide both advice and warnings to the UK's coalition government and providers across different sectors as to how to make a single work programme cost-effective and responsive to citizens' needs.
The contributors also raise important questions over how a diverse customer base will be supported, how to ensure that innovative approaches will not be squeezed out, and where jobs might come from in the future.
Related items
The transport challenge for low-income households
Many people living on low incomes in the UK are limited in their ability to access the building blocks of a good life because of poor transport provision.Towards universal opportunity for young people
Outlining a vision for young people which could increase social mobility while also reducing inequality and disadvantage, so that every young person has the opportunity to build a decent life.Harry Quilter-Pinner on Channel 4 News discussing one year of Labour and Starmer in power