Inclusion for All or Exclusion for Everyone? UK Unemployment Policies in the Age of Austerity

Titolo Rivista SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO
Autori/Curatori Alessio Bertolini
Anno di pubblicazione 2021 Fascicolo 2021/159
Lingua Inglese Numero pagine 19 P. 133-151 Dimensione file 212 KB
DOI 10.3280/SL2021-159007
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Whilst the comparative political economy literature has regarded the UK as among the least dualised countries when it comes to non-standard employment, thanks to its flexible labour market and predominantly means-tested system of social pro-tection, scholars in the precariousness literature have highlighted the increased pre-carity and insecurity of many non-standard workers, highlighting the extreme con-ditionality and punitive policies typical of the UK welfare system as an important contributory factor. This paper aims to bridge the gap between these literatures. It analyses the experience of social protection of a specific category of non-standard workers, namely temporary agency workers, in accessing both active and passive unemployment policies. It finds how welfare reforms introduced in the past two decades in association with a general welfare discourse centred on the concepts of deservingness and dependency have created important barriers in accessing un-employment protection, not just based on institutional features but also on social perceptions.

Mentre la letteratura di political economy comparata ha di frequente considerato il Regno Unito come uno dei paesi meno dualistici per l’ampia flessibilità distribuita su tutto il mercato del lavoro, gli studi sulla precarietà hanno di contro evidenziato l’estrema condizionalità delle politiche del lavoro e la crescente insicurezza che caratterizza il lavoro flessibile. Questo articolo punta a colmare il divario tra queste due letterature, concentrando l’attenzione su una specifica categoria di lavoratori non standard, i lavoratori interinali, alle politiche passive e attive del lavoro. In questo quadro, analizza le riforme del welfare introdotte negli ultimi vent’anni, mostrando come il discorso generale sul welfare incentrato sui concetti di meritevolezza e dipendenza abbiano creato importanti barriere nell’accesso alla protezione sociale, non solo sulla base delle caratteristiche istituzionali ma anche delle percezioni sociali.

Keywords:Regno Unito, lavoratori interinali, meritevolezza, dipendenza, politiche del lavoro

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Alessio Bertolini, Inclusion for All or Exclusion for Everyone? UK Unemployment Policies in the Age of Austerity in "SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO " 159/2021, pp 133-151, DOI: 10.3280/SL2021-159007