New Deal for Young People: Towards an Ethical Employment Policy?

With the current focus on judging policy by its economic efficiency, the ethical basis of employment policy is suffering neglect. The article attempts to redress the balance by analysing the ethical claims of Labour's most important innovation in employment policy, New Deal for Young People. Three criteria for an ethical policy are proposed: that it is rights based; that it prioritizes increased well-being for disadvantaged individuals or groups; and that some cost trade-off is accepted as part of the policy. These criteria distinguish an ethically-based policy from a wholly instrumental efficiency-based policy. Analysis of its elements indicates that New Deal for Young People could be developed as a model for ethically-based employment policy. The implications of further developing such a model in the long term are considered. It is concluded that a crucial task for ethical employment policy will be to develop an institutionalized 'intermediate employment' sector without creating unsupportable economic costs.