Combating Unemployment
“Of all the aspects of social misery, nothing is as heartbreaking as unemployment.” (Addams 1910)
Unemployment has long been a headache macroeconomic issue for all the governments around the world and is defined as people in working age but without job for the past four weeks according to International Labor Organization. In late 2009 the number of people unemployed or willing to work reached highest 8.2% since 1997. These increases are not start with the recession but since 2005, (Boardman 2010:105). Regarding the costs of unemployment it is not merely the problems of the unemployed themselves but also concern national output, government taxes, human resources and even social turbulence. Therefore this essay will illustrate the causes of unemployment, approaches to tackle unemployment in the UK and how approaches influence on other macroeconomic issues.
It is possibly decrease unemployment rate in nation with implementing relative approaches by knowing the fundamental causes of unemployment. To start with, causes of unemployment generally refer to two broad categories-equilibrium and disequilibrium unemployment. The former is defined as “Unemployment resulting from real wage rates in the economy being above the equilibrium level and the latter is defined as the difference between those who would like employment at the current wage rate and those willing able to take a job.” Sloman(1991:421).
Disequilibrium unemployment is generally caused by real-wage unemployment and demand-deficient unemployment. Real-wage unemployment is usually caused by the power of union or national minimum wage set above the equilibrium wage in the market. In 1970, union power reached the highest and trough at 1990, i...
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Addams,J (1912).Twenty Years at Hull-House.The MacMillan Company
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Whiteside, Noel and James Gillespie. "Deconstructing Unemployment: Developments in Britain in the Interwar Years," The Economic History Review, Vol. 44, No. 4. (Nov., 1991), pp. 665-682.
The basic definition of unemployment is without work. In macroeconomics, unemployment has a very precise definition and different types of unemployment. Unemployment is defined as the total number of adults (aged 16 years or older) who are willing and able to work and who are actively looking for work but have not found a job. (Miller 140).
Labour market inflexibility in Europe is the main reason why Europe is not as dynamic an economy as the United States” Critically discuss. “Labour market inflexibility in Europe is the main reason why Europe is not as dynamic an economy as the United States” In not more than 2500 words and not less than 1500, critically discuss the above statement. Introduction Today labour markets in Europe and the USA are often compared and discussed. The general view seems to be that the US has a more dynamic economy, people tend to believe Europeans are worse off than Americans.
However, the social and personal costs of unemployment are more extensive. These include factors such as poverty and debt, family tensions and breakdowns, homelessness, shame and stigma; of which can lead to increased social isolation, and an increase in the possibility of criminal activity (McClelland, A., & Macdonald, F.,
As different issues relating to global financial crisis and its effect on employment in European Union were brought up in the article, this report aims to analyze the unemployment situation and inflation in Europe with the aid of economic theories. In the report, the following aspects have been considered: consumer prices and how they affect inflation, unemployment and how it is related to inflation and finally,...
Unemployment is a serious and overwhelming problem in the United States that has existed since the economy of this nation began. The clear definition of unemployment is the condition of being out of work or actively looking for a job. Currently, many people around this great nation are out of work from the rise of the unemployment rate. Unemployment can be caused naturally or unintentionally by multiple ways, such as inadequacy of skills needed for the job or getting fired without any reasons. In turn, the causes of unemployment will obviously result in a variety of effects which can be psychological, economical, and social whether they are positive for negative for society and the economy.
Unemployment refers to a situation to which where individuals are unable to find a job but are actively seeking employment. Unemployment is a major cost to an economy, because it results in the opportunity cost of lost production, as well as increased social welfare payments and a loss of taxation revenue. It also restricts domestic output and growth and has many detrimental social costs which include a loss of skills and family household tensions. In recent years sustained economic growth has been the best way to achieve a lasting fall in unemployment. When economic growth is strong, there is usually an increase in aggregate demand (AD) which means there are more employment opportunities and more resources will be needed to cope with the demand. The annual Federal Budget for 2010-11 just recently forecasted economic growth of 2% this financial year showing that Australia has well truly escaped the GFC. Consequently, unemployment is also expected to fall to 4.75% in 2011-12 from a current figure of 5.3% for the March quarter this year. Australia has been able to keep unemployment at a relatively low rate of 5-6% which is significantly lower than the OECD 's average. The RBA is also predicting growth rates between 3.25% and 3.5% in both 2010 and 2011. According to Okun 's law, unemployment will fall if the economic growth rate is greater than increases in population of the labor force and productivity growth (Trading
The effects of prolonged unemployment went from lowered health and living standards, to protests, and general anger at the current state of affairs. This high unemployment rate was brought on by the economic backwash caused by the Great Depression. The depression took the wind out of the sails of British commerce. It lowered the expectations of common people and made them question the system under which they lived.
Analysis of the labor market in the economy reveals a reduction in vacancies while the number of job seekers significantly increases over the past few decades (Dickerson, 2008, p.1). Particularly, the youth employment looks worrying with a serious downward trend with so many of them unemployed. The numbers of free people who are full educated or trained have also decreased. The unemployed in the economy are either inactive or unemployed. The annual changes continue to show a rise in unemployment of young people both for student and others. With lack of government employment as well as training programs, many individuals opt to seek for self-employment (Dickerson, 2008, p.1). Statistic continues to show that there has been an increase of workless people in comparison to the vacancies available. The general picture, therefore, remains that labor market constantly fails to meet the needs of people regarding employment. Although this is the case, there has been some variation across regions with Scotland and Wales in the UK showing decreased performance. There remains a risk that employment will increase in the coming years. The present concern is long-term unemployment, specifically with regards to the youths who are most disadvantaged in the labor market (Dickerson, 2008, p.1).
In the past fifty years the economy of the United States has changed dramatically, whether it be the social or economic status. What can be said is that with the current recession that has taken place the lives of millions of Americans are being affected everyday. More jobs are being cut, and newer job opportunities are being taken away because of insufficient funds or lack of education. What I am planning to propose is a budget that will drastically change the way the economy has been looked upon in the last century. More so I plan to introduce a way to fit a newer form of a capitalist economy into the government system, mainly to increase the percentage of American work force between seventy-five percent to eighty-five percent to preserve better living conditions.
Mouhammed, A. H. (2011). Important theories of unemployment and public policies. Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 12(5), 100-110.
“The social costs of unemployment are difficult to calculate, but no less real. When unemployment becomes a pervasive problem, there are often increased calls for protectionism and severe restrictions on immigration. Protectionism can not only lead to destructive tit-for-tat retaliation among countries, but reductions in trade harm the economic well-being of all trading partners. Other social costs include how people interact with each other. Studies have shown that times of elevated unemployment often correlate both with less volunteerism and higher crime. Elevated crime makes sense because absent a wage-paying job people may turn to crime to meet their economic needs or simply to alleviate boredom. The volunteerism decline does not have an obvious explanation, but could perhaps be tied to the negative psychological impacts of being jobless or perhaps even resentment at
Unemployment has always been something that Americans have worried about since the great depression in which one in every four people was unemployed. High unemployment has an impact on every one even those whom are still currently employed. For example if the unemployment rate is particular high then even those with jobs get worried. Unemployment is also separated in to distinct categories base on which group is the focus of the study. The categories can be by race, age or location, for example the unemployment rate of those between the age of sixty and sixty-five could be compared those between the ages of thirty and thirty-five. These categories allow economist to see which groups are the best and which groups are worst off. One group particularly bad off is the age group referred to as teenagers. This paper is going to focus on how teenage unemployment affects the economy and what possible solutions there are.
Shapiro, Carl, and Joseph E. Stiglitz. "Equilibrium Unemployment as a Worker Discipline Device."American Economic Review 74.3 (1984): 433-44. Web. 24 Nov 2009. .
In her article Disguised Unemployment, Joan Robinson raises the question of how much governments should spend to get full employment (1936). She outlines the concept of disguised unemployment as where the market is not using capabilities of workforce for maximum output. Disguised unemployment occurs when there are no areas of employment that can employ workers at higher level of productivity and wages. Furthermore, full employment is not tied to a achieving a certain percentage of occupation, but rather to the state when every worker is where she or he is most productive.