EVENT: Whither welfare-to-work? IES annual public employment policy conference 2009

9-10 Portland Place
Oxford Circus
London W1B 1PR

12 November 2009
10.00am – 4.00pm
Public and private sector organisations : £130 + VAT
Registered charities : £80 + VAT


From 2008, receipt of out-of-work benefits was made conditional on completion of work-directed activities for virtually all claimants. However, circumstances have changed and the unemployment registers are now replete with people able and willing to work; people without inherent barriers to work and for whom the unavailability of jobs is the main problem. This conference will consider:
· How should welfare-to-work policies adjust to higher unemployment?
· Where will this leave harder-to-help groups?
· What lessons can be learned from previous economic cycles or from abroad?
· Looking ahead to years of austerity imposed by the public finances: where does welfare-to-work go from here?