Developing a bottom-up approach to evidence-based policy making

This book explores the ways in which it may be possible to shift away from the current trend in the UK towards a disciplinary ‘workfare state’. It does so by first identifying the key messages arising from case study research by the eight UK universities involved in the SEQUAL Development Partnership into local case studies of inclusive, community-based approaches to accessing employment for people disadvantaged and excluded by reason of gender, class, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, language, geography, citizenship status, and youth and older age. As well as the specific policy and practice points that arise from the case studies, this evidence is generally seen as raising doubts about the work-first approach to employability dominant in the UK. The human capital approach associated with European social policy discourses is seen as more in tune with case study and wider evidence, and aligns more with the interests of people who are disadvantaged and discriminated against. The book, however, advocates an alternative capabilities and human rights approach as the most appropriate way forward beyond both employability and human capital approaches. In doing so, the book seeks to develop a bottom-up approach to evidence-based policy making, seeking to evaluate policies from the standpoint of those affected and targeted by them, utilising their experience and wisdom to open up broader policy debates (www. surrey.ac.uk/politics/cse/sequal.htm).

Background to the research and critique of dominant employability-based approaches

This book derives from the SEQUAL research funded under the European Union (EU) EQUAL Programme, which sought both to identify dynamics of disadvantage, and to identify promising practices aimed at overcoming barriers to labour market inclusion and progression. It was conducted in 2002-05 at a time when the UK was experiencing a sustained economic boom following recovery from deep recession in the early 1990s, leading to tight local labour markets in many areas. By this time, the main New Labour welfare-to-work reforms – the New Deals for Employment, tax credits, childcare subsidies and the National Minimum Wage (NMW) – had bedded in. However, despite these apparently favourable economic and policy circumstances, many people from the groups highlighted in the SEQUAL research were still experiencing difficulties in either gaining a foothold or sustaining their participation in a booming economy, and sharing in the spreading prosperity.