Three ways the UK can get people working again – without punishing them

The UK government has put forward ambitious plans to reform the UK’s employment support system. Helping people to find, stay in and succeed at work is a complex policy area. With unemployment at historically low levels, the key issue driving these new reforms is the high number of people – nine million across the country – considered to be “economically inactive”.

Economic inactivity measures the number of people who are not in work, but who are also not actively seeking it. Many who fall into this category are unable to work and should not be expected to.

However, such high levels are a worrying indicator of widespread exclusion from the labour market. This is bad news for individuals, given the many benefits that being in (good-quality) work brings. It is also bad news for the government’s economic growth ambitions – as it acknowledges, the talents of too many people are being wasted.

The reasons behind economic inactivity are complex. Ill health is the main reported reason (a record 2.8 million people are out of work in the UK due to long-term sickness). This includes mental ill health, especially among young people, alongside caring responsibilities.

But it’s not just high levels of economic inactivity that are worrying – once in employment, UK workers experience high levels of in-work poverty and insecure work. Those entering low-paid and insecure work often get stuck there. Analysis has also found that insecure workers are more likely than those with secure jobs to become unemployed or economically inactive due to ill health.

In recent years the UK has specialised in a “work first” approach to employment policy. This puts the emphasis on moving unemployed people into any job quickly, regardless of job quality or suitability.

Support to access work has typically been minimal and mainly focused on benefit claimants who have to actively seek a job. A harsh sanctioning regime to punish those who fail to meet job-hunting expectations has attracted international condemnation.

Across multiple research projects, my colleagues and I have found that this approach is not fit for purpose. It pressures jobseekers into poor-quality jobs that don’t match their capabilities and circumstances.

It also frustrates employers who are inundated with inappropriate applications. Lastly, it abandons people who are not considered immediately “work ready”; many disengage from services despite being eligible for support.

The UK needs a system that is genuinely focused on supporting those (who are able) to find and succeed in good-quality work, which recognises the differences in people’s support needs, and helps those who aren’t quite “work ready”.

But it is also vital to look beyond the employment support system, and understand that real change is impossible without substantial improvements in working conditions. Tackling wider barriers like ill health, poor public transport and inadequate and expensive care provision is also key.

There is a lot to welcome in the government’s proposed reforms, set out in a white paper entitled Get Britain Working. They include an emphasis in supporting people into “good work”, and engaging more with employers and others including young and disabled people.

However, the devil will be in the detail – and in how these ideas are put into practice. Having identified some key reforms, this is how the government should go about implementing them.

1. Supporting people into ‘good work’

The government’s definition of “good work” isn’t clearly defined. If jobcentres, employers, local authorities and others are to deliver on their ambition to “help more people to get good jobs”, everyone needs to know what this means.

There are hints – the core objectives of the new jobs and careers service include a focus on earnings as well as employment. And the white paper is clearly part of a wider reform programme that involves “making work pay”.

However, the government has also made clear that the overarching approach to conditionality and sanctions remains unaltered, which raises questions about whether it is really moving away from the “any jobs” approach.

2. Working with employers

As one participant in a major project on welfare conditionality made clear, “It’s not a jobcentre; it’s a sanction centre”. Supporting people into jobs entails a new relationship with those creating them.

In my universal credit and employers study undertaken with my colleague Calum Carson, we exposed widespread dissatisfaction among employers with the “work first” approach. It creates huge costs and hinders recruitment, and many people avoid or have poor experiences with jobcentres.

Some are frustrated by a fragmented employment and skills landscape, and one-size-fits-all programmes that don’t work for employers of varying sizes and sectors. Support for employers to recruit and manage diverse workers is often lacking. As a spokesperson for an employer representative organisation explained: “There needed to be support to help employers to manage individuals who might not have a straight line back into employment. There could be bumps along the way.”

Employers will be pleased to see that many of the recommendations from our project are reflected in the white paper – but jobcentres have an image problem that won’t improve overnight. The Department for Work and Pensions will need support from employers’ representatives to boost employer engagement.

3. Consulting with the right people

Designing services alongside those most affected by it is also critical to long-term success. But research has exposed the disconnect between policy and the realities of working life for those on a low income.

The planned reforms bring a welcome commitment to consulting with key groups, including disabled people. But a firmer commitment to involving those most affected in the development of these reforms from the outset would be better.

A decent deal for employers and jobseekers is long overdue, but the scale of the change needed to get Britain working is huge. Placing jobseekers, low-paid workers, employers and trade unions at the centre of designing policy will ensure that employment support works more effectively. And it should help to deliver on the government’s broader social and economic missions.

Katy Jones has received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (Grant reference ES/V004093/1)