The making of a welfare class?

Walker, Robert; Howard, Marilyn

doi:10.2307/j.ctt1t8984n

Cited by 36 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Walker's (2000: 93) conclusion that ‘very few claimants prefer not to work or fail actively to engage in job search’ is typical of UK social policy accounts, and is widely empirically supported. Quantitative studies of unemployed people find that overwhelming majorities search for work (Trickey et al.…”

Section: Social Policy Debates About Unemploymentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The ‘Dole or Drudgery’ Dilemma: Education, the Work Ethic and Unemployment

Dunn

2010

Soc Policy Adm

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Before the recession, Labour ministers claimed that much unemployment in the UK was voluntary. While social policy authors have repeatedly countered such claims by stressing that unemployed people generally possess a strong work ethic and employment commitment, their accounts typically neglect the role that choosiness in job search behaviour plays in deciding individuals' employment status. Fifty in‐depth interviews with both unemployed and employed respondents exposed considerable diversity in attitudes towards ‘dole’ (being unemployed and claiming unemployment benefits) and ‘drudgery’ (doing less attractive jobs). The more educated were more likely to prefer ‘dole’ to ‘drudgery’ (this was also found using National Child Development Study survey data), yet they usually found jobs despite their greater choosiness. Those with very low educational attainment often desperately wanted jobs but could not find them due to their low employability – which might offer an explanation for the often replicated (yet paradoxical) finding that unemployed people generally exhibit a strong work ethic and pro‐employment attitudes and behaviours. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the scope for many Jobseeker's Allowance claimants to increase their net income by undertaking an unattractive job is greater than social policy authors often imply. The question of ‘who must do the least attractive jobs?’ has been neglected by both social policy academics and policy‐makers.

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Section: Social Policy Debates About Unemploymentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, existing UK social policy writing tends to conclude that voluntary unemployment is rare, and that unemployed people generally are strongly committed to employment (e.g. Walker 2000). These accounts draw upon empirical studies of unemployed people's work attitudes (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ‘Dole or Drudgery’ Dilemma: Education, the Work Ethic and Unemployment

Dunn

2010

Soc Policy Adm

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“…Thus, as more women enter the labour market and pay national insurance contributions, they are increasingly entitled to claim IB if they subsequently become long-term sick or disabled (Walker and Howard, 2000). Among other things, this development is in part related to the increase in female labour force participation in recent decades.…”

Section: Gendered Trends In Incapacity Benefitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Differences Among New Claimants of Incapacity Benefit

Kemp¹,

Davidson

2009

J. Soc. Pol.

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The academic literature on incapacity benefits in Britain is dominated by debates about 'hidden unemployment', particularly in relation to working-age men in the industrial and former coalmining areas. Although women account for two-fifths of all claimants, they have been given relatively little attention in the literature on incapacity benefits. This article draws on a representative survey of recent claimants of Incapacity Benefit (IB) in Britain to compare the situation of men and women aged under 60. It shows that there are significant differences in their characteristics and circumstances and in their routes onto this benefit. It is concluded that academic debates in Britain need to take into account the differences between women and men in order to reach a more complete understanding of the role of IB in the post-industrial economy.

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“…In order to use the same sample across the two waves of each survey (BCS70 1996and 2000, and NCDS58 2000and 2008, observations with missing values on any of the variables used in the analysis were deleted. Total sample sizes in the clean data set are 5,363 for the BCS70 (both 1996 and 2000) and 5,505 for the NCDS58 (both 2000 and 2008).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unemployment and attitudes to work: asking the ‘right’ question

Dunn

Grasso

Saunders

2014

Work, Employment and Society

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Attitudes research has repeatedly demonstrated that the vast majority of unemployed people want a job, and that their work commitment is generally at least as strong as employed people's. But until now it has not asked if they are more likely than employed people to prefer unemployment to an unattractive job. While this oversight reflects a noted widespread reluctance to respond directly to right-wing authors' assertions, this article argues that it is partly attributable to existing studies using survey questions inappropriate for researching unemployment. Responses to the British Cohort Study / National Child Development Study agree / disagree statement 'having almost any job is better than being unemployed' were analysed. Being 'unemployed and seeking work' associated strongly with disagreeing with the statement across all recent datasets in both studies, even when a number of relevant variables were controlled for.

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The making of a welfare class?

Cited by 36 publications

References 0 publications

The ‘Dole or Drudgery’ Dilemma: Education, the Work Ethic and Unemployment

The ‘Dole or Drudgery’ Dilemma: Education, the Work Ethic and Unemployment

Gender Differences Among New Claimants of Incapacity Benefit

Unemployment and attitudes to work: asking the ‘right’ question

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