According to new analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) long-term unemployment roughly doubled between 2008 and 2010 and now stands at 797,000, whilst the number of vacant jobs has decreased to 467,000. The think-tank believes that the jobs deficit of 330,000 will jeopardise the viability of the government’s flagship employment initiative the ‘Work Programme’. Furthermore, it expects long-term unemployment to reach around 875,000 towards the end of 2011, with approximately 4.6 unemployed people – and 1.6 long-term unemployed – for every one vacancy.
Commenting upon this analysis, Nick Pearce, Director of ippr, said:
“Our analysis shows that the government’s Work Programme could struggle, not because it is ill-conceived, but because there simply aren’t enough jobs out there. It was hard enough to get the long-term unemployed into work during the boom years, now because of the downturn there are far fewer vacancies so it’s going to be harder still.
A strategy for growth which creates jobs is part of the answer. But our ideas show the best possible welfare-to-work service can also play an important role. What is needed is a much more local, flexible system which can offer a highly personal service to people who’ve been out of work for a long time”
The findings form part of a major report Now It’s Personal: The New Landscape of Welfare-to-Work, which proposes a spectrum of improvements to the UK’s welfare-to-work system.
