British Women’s Human Capital and Employment Evolution under New Labour  

Résumé 0

This paper aims at identifying the evolution of British women’s human capital, as well as the employment perspectives within the theoretical framework of socio-economic models and the case study of the New Deal.The central question will be to define the characteristics and the goals of British governmental employment and training policy over this period as well as analyze some of its major components. The second step will consist in measuring governmental strategies’ impact and influence, if any, on the evolution and development of British women’s human capital as opposed to men’s situation. The last section will enable us to identify the main features of British social and economic model in terms of workfare and labour market as posited by Esping-Andersen in 1990. These characteristics will be examined for their empirical value for the study of the British labour market. Workfare and training governmental strategies, as well as the way they were applied in the United Kingdom, the British social legislation, the Welfare programmes ruling the labour market, and the workers’ level of employability and adaptability will be scrutinized. This will provide grounds for determining whether British labour market policies under New Labour may be considered as specific “gendered” employment policies.