Purpose[edit]
The New Deal had as its signature, the power to withdraw benefits from those who 'refused reasonable employment', though it remains unclear what exactly was meant by that, since no government can compel an employer to hire people or create jobs where none exist. Indeed, 'Workfare' in the UK can arguably be traced back to 1986, and compulsory 'Restart' interviews for claimants after a certain period, and as such the first introduction of 'conditionalities' with the possible outcome of 'sanctions' for perceived non-compliance. The 'New Deal' replaced the previous workfare programme of the then-Conservative government of John Major, 'Project Work', which had been launched in the early 90s's.
A further project was introduced in 1999, the Working Families Tax Credit, a tax credit scheme for low income workers which was meant to provide an incentive to work, and to continue in work.
Professor Richard Beaudry, from the Department of Economics at the University of York, defined the New Deal as follows in a 2002 paper, Workfare and Welfare: Britain’s New Deal (pp. 8–9) : "The New Deal reforms promise eventual reform of welfare assistance for all benefit recipients."
New Deal Programmes[edit]
Although originally targeting the young unemployed (18- to 24-year-olds), the New Deal programmes subsequently targeted other groups. These include:[1]
• New Deal for Young People (NDYP) received by far the greatest proportion of New Deal funding (£3.15 billion through to 2002[citation needed] ). It targeted unemployed youth (aged 18–24) unemployed for 6 months or longer.
• New Deal 25+ targeted aged 25+ unemployed for eighteen months or more. In terms of funding, £350 million was allocated up to 2002.
• New Deal for Lone Parents targeted single parents with school age children. £200 million was directly allocated to the program, not including additional assistance for child-care.
• New Deal for the Disabled targeted those with disabilities in receipt of Incapacity and similar benefits. £200 million was budgeted for the program up to 2002 (Peck, “Workfare” 304-305). This was superseded by the 'Work Capability Assessment', introduced by the Brown government in 2008, and administered by Atos Healthcare.
• New Deal 50+ targeted those aged 50+.
• New Deal for Musicians was a little-known element aimed at unemployed musicians.
