welfare to work

Programme introduced by UK Labour Party to reduce unemployment, particularly among young people, by getting them off welfare into work. In January 1998, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, announced a ‘national crusade to end unemployment’, targeting at first the under-25s, and then older people.

The cost of some £3.5 billion was partly met by revenue from the ‘windfall tax’ on privatized utilities. The idea of making people less dependent on the state, and more self-reliant, has been criticized by left-wing Labour supporters.