The Restart Effect
Does Active Labour Market Policy Reduce Unemployment?
Michael White and Jane Lakey

The government's Restart programme represented a new step in the direction of active policies on the 'supply side' of the labour market to counter the growth of persistent unemployement: policies which have been increasingly advocated by labour market specialists throughout the world.

But does it work in the UK? In 1989 the Employment Service commissioned one of the largest surveys in the UK of unemployed people to assess the impact of Restart, and PSI has carried out an exhaustive independent evaluation of the data to provide the answer.

This report concludes that Restart has been effective - not least in directing support particularly towards groups of people with disadvantages. As well as supplying detailed evidence on the Restart effect, this comprehensive report describes how Restart is operated and the ways in which it achieves its results. It also points to opportunities for strengthening and extending the impact of this type of programme.

The report, which is written in a non-technical way, will be of interest to all those with a concern for the effectiveness of public policies, especially in the field of employment.

£14.95 paperback ISBN 0 85374 554 4
1992 208 pages 216x135mm
Report number 739