The most important and disturbing change in the British labor market over the last two decades has been the re-emergence of mass unemployment. This study is a powerful and comprehensive investigation of the effects of being unemployed on individuals' attitudes towards work, their social relationships, and their psychological health. Breaking new ground in the study of unemployment, the editors use large-scale surveys that allow the first direct comparison between the unemployed and their working counterparts. Their survey takes into account a wide range of variables including the local labor...

The frenzied pace of industrial restructuring and the emergence of new employment policies have focused attention on the role of employers in determining the quantity and quality of employment. Drawing on important new data, the authors test, modify, and challenge many of the current determinants of employer policy and how these influence employment structures and individual employment opportunities. The study effectively synthesizes debates on labor market segmentation, flexibility, post-Fordism, deskilling, the gendering of work, and industrial relations. In their extension of these...

During the 1980s, British trade unionism confronted its greatest challenge, and suffered its greatest reverses, since the inter-war period. After a decade of rapid growth, the unions experienced a steep decline in membership, and a virtual marginalization in national political affairs. This book addresses a number of fundamental questions raised by the record of these years, including the reasons for membership loss and the steps the unions took in reaction to the membership problem. It also looks at whether this period can be seen as making a fundamental break with the past, or whether the...