Social policy and transitions to training and work for disabled young people in the United Kingdom: neo-liberalism for better and for worse?

an article by Scott Yates (De Montfort University, Leicester, UK) and Alan Roulstone (Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK) published in Disability & Society Volume 28 Issue 4 (June 2013)

Abstract

Although New Labour distanced itself from the neo-liberal ‘underclass’ discourses of its predecessors, its approach to disabled young people maintained key aspects of neo-liberalism, particularly an emphasis on individuals’ human capital, aspirations and self-investments as causes of and solutions to disabled young people’s unemployment.

This is also apparent in early Coalition government statements.

Since the 1990s, policies have focused on providing individually-tailored advice, developing individuals’ skills, and motivating appropriate self-investment.

We examine recent evidence that highlights a number of problems with this focus. Notably,

• it entails a simplistic and individualised notion of ‘barriers’ to employment that cannot account for the complex impacts of disablement and inequality;
• moves towards open-market models of training and work support create perverse incentives that divert support away from those most in need;
• employment success is dependent on unpredictable local opportunity structures; and
• the focus on paid employment undermines other social contributions made by disabled young people.

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