BOOKS

Beyond Punishment: Hard Choices on the Road to Full Employability (co-authored with Matthew Owen)

Attaching obligations to benefit has always been a part of Britain’s welfare state. In recent years, however, the debate over the purpose and extent of conditions on claimants has become increasingly ideological. This report argues that what is now the received wisdom of the Left and the Right has secceeded only in building a larger and more ineffective benefits system. As a consequence they have neglected measures that put people back into employment and reduce benefit dependency. The report concludes that if we are to return to full employability the responsiblities demanded of claimants, the government, employers, employees and taxpayers must all be redrawn.