The question of how to create employment and support services that respond to citizens’ needs has never been easy. In the current context of spending cuts and increasing levels of unemployment, it becomes even more critical.
Delegates on IPPR’s learning exchange to New York are thinking more creatively about how to better respond to this challenge; through adapting current approaches, working in partnership, providing more cost effective services and the policy implications.
Of course welfare systems are not the same, with different policy assumptions, cultural norms and political processes. But many of the challenges that we have seen in New York are not dissimilar to the challenges that we face in the UK, particularly around youth unemployment and job retention. The aim of the week has been to learn from New York’s experience; what has and hasn’t worked through contracts that almost entirely measure and reward performance.
We have been welcomed by the Deputy Mayor of New York and invited by leading figures across government, the public, private and community sectors to share our knowledge and experiences, and learn from their approaches. Yesterday we visited the Centre for Economic Opportunity which is tasked by New York’s mayor ‘to implement innovative ways to reduce poverty in New York City’.
Their programmes include conditional cash transfers, engaging disconnected youth and workforce development initiatives. The pilots are generating interest from across the US and the Obama White House and offer some exciting ideas to pilot in different settings.
A more sobering visit was a Job Stat meeting where job centre managers are required to report to the Human Resources Administration, which is responsible for welfare in New York City. Numerous indicators were presented that included the number of people on certain benefits, waiting times and referral rates. The aim is to hold job centres to account and encourage transparency.
The environment was friendly, but also challenging. For example, if waiting times had increased for clients, Job Centres had to explain why, and outline a strategy for improvement. Alongside both these New York City government initiatives, we have also visited a number of providers across the public, private and voluntary sectors.
As unemployment continues to increase, and we learn more about the UK government’s welfare to work programme, it is clear that measuring and rewarding performance is important, but it can also be short-term, provide incentives to ‘cream’ and often encourages job entry rather than job retention and sustainability.
And it is still not clear how the government might stimulate job creation. If the era of new politics is upon us, the emergency Budget next week presents an opportunity for the government to commit to the long term, to supporting people into sustainable work.
Dalia Ben-Galim is acting head of social policy at the IPPR
