Private wealth holdings are likely to become an increasingly important determinant in the jobexit decision of elderly workers. Net wealth may correlate with worker’s characteristics thatalso determine the exit out of a job. It is therefore important to include a rich set of...

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act(PRWORA) of 1996 represents a dramatic change in the US welfare state.One of its key goals was to move lone mothers, even those with youngchildren, from welfare to work. Early evidence suggests that, in concertwith a strong...

This paper examines the extent to which the policies towards thewelfare state pursued by the Labour Government in its first fifteenmonths represent a break with those of its Conservativepredecessor and with earlier policies put forward by Labour inopposition. Four key parts of its inheritance...

The principal aim of Section F of the British Association is to show how economicanalysis can be applied to illuminate important issues of public concern. The themefor the 1997 Section F Meeting of “Equality and Opportunity” surely satisfied thiscriterion. The subject matter is highly...

Martin Evans has examined the organisation, targeting and implementation ofwelfare to work programmes in five countries: the UK, France, Germany,Netherlands and the USA. His study focussed on the different definitions of targetpopulations for welfare to work abroad and how their programmes were...

Welfare to work policy is central to British reforms of itswelfare state and social security system. We are not alonein our desire to assist unemployed and other claimants tofind and retain work. It is therefore important to be able tolook to other countries and consider lessons that could...

Recent government pronouncements in the UK and above all the recent Conservative Party (2008) policy document on welfare reform suggest that US welfare reform is increasingly being taken as a model for the UK. What lessons should the UK draw from US experience? The long established means tested...

Since April 2002 Jobcentre Plus has started to operate nationwide in the UKproviding fully integrated benefit claiming and work placement/job-seekingactivities for people of working age. This new organisation put an explicitwork-focus in the delivery of the benefit system. Along with...

In 1996, Congress passed the Personal Responsibility andWork Opportunity Reconciliation Act, or PRWORA, whichsubstantially restructured public assistance programs.PRWORA gave states almost entire discretion to design andoperate cash assistance programs for families with children,reducing the...