Welfare-to-Work: New Labour and the US Experience

There has been a major transformation in labour market policy in the United Kingdom since the mid 1990s. The obligation of unemployed people to actively seek employment has been strengthened and the receipt of social security benefit has been tied to participation in active job search and job placement programmes. The experience of the United States in experimenting with and implementing welfare to work programmes, dating back to the early 1980s, has been pivotal in shaping labour market an...