Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

All industrialized or post-industrial societies consider themselves to be working societies. Work – or more precisely, gainful work – defines an individual's worth and status. It is for most people the main means of earning a living and frequently the prerequisite to be eligible for social security coverage. Therefore, unemployment is a principal social and political challenge – in particular since the mid-1970s, when most western countries experienced a marked increase in unemployment as a result of the so-called first oil crisis. This followed an approximately 20-year period during which it was generally assumed that the interwar economic and labor market crisis was a thing of the past. Since then, the western industrial countries have tried, with varying success, to come to terms with the problem of unemployment. The post-socialist economies – to varying degrees as well – are also hit by unemployment. It is frequently alleged that unemployment results above all from regulatory interventions in the (“free”) labor market, including overly generous social benefits. One cites as proof the relatively low unemployment rates in countries such as the US and Great Britain, which, in contrast to most European countries or Japan, have a weakly regulated labor market and residual social security systems, targeted mainly at the poor. Yet countries whose market regulations and/or social ... log in or subscribe to read full text