Working futures?: Disabled people, policy and social inclusion

Working futures? looks at the current effectiveness and future scope for enabling policy in the field of disability and employment. By addressing the current strengths and weaknesses of disability and employment policy, the book asks Is the dichotomy of 'work for those who can and support for those who cannot' appropriate to the lives of disabled people? Does current and recent policy reduce or reinforce barriers to paid employment? What lessons from other welfare regimes can we draw on to further disabled people's working futures? The book is original in bringing together a wide range of policy insights to bear on the question of disabled people's working futures. It includes analyses of recent policy initiatives as diverse as the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Draft Disability Bill, the benefits system, New Deal for Disabled People, job retention policy, comparative disability policy, the role of the voluntary sector and 'new policies for a new workplace'. Contributions from academics, NGOs, the OECD and the disabled peoples' movement bring multiple theoretical, professional and user perspectives to the debates at the heart of the book.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; Part One: Work, welfare and social inclusion: challenges, concepts and questions: The challenges of a work-first agenda for disabled people ~ Alan Roulstone and Colin Barnes; The missing million: the challenges of employing more disabled people ~ Kate Stanley; Part Two: The current policy environment: New Deal for Disabled People: what's new about New Deal? ~ Bruce Stafford; Disabled people, employment and the Work preparation programme ~ Sheila Riddell and Pauline Banks; Legislating for equality: evaluating the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 ~ Nigel Meager and Jennifer Hurtsfield; Disability frameworks and monitoring disability in local authorities: a challenge for the proposed Draft Disability Discrimination Bill ~ Ardha Danieli and Carol Woodhams; Job retention: a new policy priority for disabled people ~ Geof Mercer; Benefits and tax credits: enabling systems or constraints? ~ Anne Corden; Challenging the disability benefit trap across the OECD ~ Mark Pearson and Christopher Prinz; Jobcentre Plus: can specialised personal advisors be justified? ~ Patricia Thornton; Disability and employment: global and national policy influences in New Zealand, Canada and Australia ~ Neil Lunt; Disabled people and 'employment' in the majority world: policies and realities ~ Peter Coleridge; Part Three: Towards inclusive policy futures: Employment policy and practice: a perspective from the disabled peoples' movement ~ David Gibbs; Changing minds: opening up employment options for people with mental health problems ~ Jennifer Secker and Bob Grove; Enabling futures for people with learning difficulties? Exploring the employment realities behind the policy rhetoric? ~ Danny Goodley and Ghashem Norouzi; Barriers to labour market participation: the experience of Deaf and hard of hearing people ~ Jennifer Harris and Patricia Thornton; Work matters: visual impairment, disabling barriers and employment options ~ Phillipa Simkiss; Disabled people and employment: the potential impact of European policy ~ Hannah Morgan; Missing pieces: the voluntary sector and community sector's potential for inclusive employment ~ Lorraine Gradwell; Professional barriers and facilitators: policy issues for an enabled salariat ~ Bob Sapey and Jeannine Hughes; Disabled people, the state and employment: historical lessons and welfare policy ~ Jon Warren; 'Work' is a four-letter word: disability, work and welfare ~ Colin Barnes and Alan Roulstone; Conclusions.

About the Author :
Dr Alan Roulstone is Director of Research in Social and Health Sciences and Reader in Disability Studies at the University of Sunderland. He has published widely on disability and employment policy and has significant experience of researching disability in institutional contexts. Alan identifies as a disabled person and has close links with the UK disabled peoples' movement. Professor Colin Barnes is Director of the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds. Colin has written extensively on disability and policy issues and is author of the seminal Disabled people in Britain and discrimination. He is a disabled person who has done much to transform social model ideas on disability into a reality.

Review :
"Working futures? is a welcome and much needed contribution to this crucial domain of disability studies. It is an excellent resource, providing an original text that should be drawn on by a wide audience within the social sciences." John Swain, School of Health, Community and Education Studies, University of Northumbria at Newcastle