Poverty and Worklessness in Britain

Relative poverty in the UK has risen massively since 1979 mainly because of increasing worklessness, rising earnings dispersion and benefits indexed to prices, not wages. So poverty is now at a very high level. The economic forces underlying this are the significant shift in demand against the unskilled which has outpaced the shift in relative supply in the same direction. This has substantially weakened the low-skill labour market which has increased both pay dispersion and worklessness, particularly among low-skilled men. The whole situation has been exacerbated by the very long tail in the skill distribution, so that over 20 per cent of the working age population have very low skills indeed (close to illiterate). Practical policies discussed include improving education and overall well-being for children in the lower part of the ability range, raising wage floors, New Deal policies, tax credits and benefits for the workless. Overall, I would argue that without reducing the long tail in the skill distribution, there is no practical possibility of policy reducing relative poverty to 1979 levels.Poverty, Worklessness, Wage dispersion, Disability

The CEP-OECD Institutions Data Set (1960-2004)

This dataset contains information about the evolution of labour market institutions in twenty OECD countries from 1960 to 2004. The countries in the sample are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States Where possible the data refers to West Germany throughout. Note that the temporal coverage of these data differs from series to series and country to country. The accompanying data can be downloaded at the link aboveOECD Institutions, Data

Employment and Taxes

This paper considers the impact of taxation policy on market work. On the basis of theevidence, we find that a 10 percentage point rise in the tax wedge will reduce overall labourinput provided via the market by around 2 per cent of the population of working age. The taxwedge is the sum of the payroll, income and consumption tax rates.This only explains a minority of the market work differentials across count ries. Muchof the remainder is probably down to the differences in the social security systems supportingthe unemployed, the sick and disabled and the early retired.Employment, Taxation, Labour Supply

The Unemployment Challenge in Europe

Arbeitslosigkeit; Arbeitsmarktpolitik; Langzeitarbeitslosigkeit; Ungelernte Arbeitskräfte; EU-Politik; EU-Staaten

Would Cutting Payroll Taxes on the Unskilled Have a Significant Effect on Unemployment?

This paper states two recommendations from an OECD Report: (1) "Reduce non-wage labour costs, especially in Europe, by reducing taxes on labourà" (2) "Reduce direct taxes (social security and income taxes) on those with low earningsà". After looking at the first recommendation we conclude that any attempt to generate a significant reduction in the unemployment rate by cutting across-the-board tax rates on employment is likely to fail. We then turn to the second recommendation and give three arguments as to why it may be a good idea. The remainder of the paper investigates the arguments. We look at why the unemployment rate of the unskilled might be higher than that of the skilled, and how we might expect their relative unemployment rates to respond both to relative demand shocks and to more natural shocks. We then examine the facts - what has happened to relative unemployment (and non-employment) rates, and wage rates throughout the OECD. Finally, we discuss the implications of these facts for the proposed policy measures.

The CEP-OECD institutions data set (1960-2004)

This dataset contains information about the evolution of labour market institutions in twenty OECD countries from 1960 to 2004. The countries in the sample are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States. Where possible the data refers to West Germany throughout. Note that the temporal coverage of these data differs from series to series and country to country. The accompanying data can be downloaded at the link below

Wages

Empirical analyses of longitudinal data on some 66 manufacturing companies on Britain lead us to the following three conclusions. First, agreed reductions in restrictive work practices lead to increases in productivity. Second, controlling for such agreed reductions, there is some weak evidence that both relative pay and aggregate labour market slack have some positive impact on productivity. Third, falls in market share or declines in the financial health of companies lead to both lower pay rises and reductions in restrictive practices.

The Netherlands and the United Kingdom: A European Unemployment Miracle?

Kweywords: unemployment