On The New Reform Of The Employment Policies Of The Labour Party In Britain

Having been in government since May 1997, the New Labor, Tony Blair being party leader, have given priority to the problem of employment and implemented a series of policies and programs in this field. All these efforts have made great achievements. This article reviews Britain traditional employment policy after World War II, analyzes the background of New Labor's reform on employment policy, and introduces measures of the reform and what we can learn from it.This article contains four parts. The first part describes the background and development of Britain traditional employment policy. Various employment policies exist in different stages. Britain traditional employment policy fell into two phases according to different stages: (1) from the end of World War II to 1970s. During this period, the creation of welfare state provided the unemployed and employers with social security net of "from the cradle to the grave". Benefiting from golden age of economy and low unemployment, Britain government's goal of full employment was realized. (2) The employment policies of Mrs. Thatcher and Major government of the Conservative Party. After coming into power, Mrs. Thatcher denied Keynesian theory through privatization, cutting down social welfare budget, and reforming unemployment compensation policy and employment training. The government succeeded this policy and strengthened employment service.The second part presents the background of New Labor's reform on employment policy. Since 1980s, the rapid development of globalization and technical revolution has exerted a great influence on the developed countries' industrial structure and employment situation. "The third way" has become the main idea of New Labor. Severe competitions of party government, 18 year's political exclusion by the Conservative government are all factors promoting the reform of New Labor's employment policy. Furthermore, European integration, the disintegration of Soviet Union, forming of American new Democratic Party, and the other international affairs are also reasons for this reform.The third part introduces the measures of New labor's reform on employment policy. The measures include: changing the social welfare system and implementing new policy of "from welfare to job", decreeing minimum wage system and practicing unemployment subsidies which promotes employment, emphasizing education and...