Kindly supported by:
Date: Tuesday 18th March 2008, 12.15 – 1.45pm with lunch served from 12.15
Location: 11 Tufton Street, London SW1P 3QB
Speakers: Stephen Timms MP, Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform
Ann Rossiter, Director of the Social Market Foundation
David Lane, Regional Manager for Western Europe at Genworth Financial.
Chair: Brian Pomeroy, Chair of the Financial Inclusion Taskforce at HM Treasury
Keynote speech by Stephen Timms MP, Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform.
The Social Market Foundation is hosting a panel discussion to mark the launch of our new publication: Anglo-Flexicurity: A safety net for UK workers, kindly supported by Genworth Financial.
The report explores why workers continue to feel insecure despite the continued strength of the British labour market, and how we can tackle this insecurity while maintaining our economic flexibility and open approach to globalisation. The flexible nature of the current labour market has enabled people to quickly enter into new jobs. However, our research shows that the new employment is often less well paid and less sustainable than the previous job. Furthermore, while people are no more likely to lose their jobs than they once were, the financial consequences of doing so are all the greater as individuals’ average debt burden continues to rise.
Our research has concluded that there is significant scope to improve the support workers receive between jobs by tackling shortcomings in the market for private products, such as Payment Protection Insurance. Our report sets out the options for doing this, developing a British form of the flexicurity seen in Scandinavian countries. In particular, it discusses the relative merits of mirroring the approach shortly to be introduced for pensions, automatically enrolling new workers in income protection insurance but giving them the option of opting out.
For more information, and to reserve your place, please contact Beth Foley bfoley@smf.co.uk or 020 7227 4418.