Active labour market policies and welfare reform: Europe and the US in comparative perspective

This books provides a comparative review of active labour market policies (ALMPs) in the United States, the united Kingdom, France, Denmark and at EU level. This volume includes detailed case studies in this policy field in different welfare states. ALMPs, adopted as a means of combating social exclusion and poverty, seek to help the unemployed return to work and make benefit receipt conditional upon the recipient making demonstrable attempts to gain employment. Anne Daguerre argues that ALMPs indicate a shift towards conditional welfare and a renewal of the distinction between the deserving and undeserving poor. The author concludes that ALMPs place economic competitiveness above human well-being, thus clashing with the vision encapsulated by the European Social Model.