this issue
previous article in this issuenext article in this issue

Document Details :

Title: Unemployment... to be continued
Author(s): ELCHARDUS, Mark , DERKS, Anton , GLORIEUX, Ignace , PELLERIAUX, Koen
Journal: Ethical Perspectives
Volume: 3    Issue: 1   Date: April 1996   
Pages: 50-68
DOI: 10.2143/EP.3.1.563047

Abstract :
Today it is obvious that economic growth will not automatically create sufficient job opportunities to significantly reduce unemployment. When searching for solutions to the problem of unemployment, and in their exploration of new lines of reasoning in this regard, people frequently forget that, even if our boldest dreams come true, it would still be unrealistic to expect a spectacular decrease in unemployment the coming decades. Some analysts forget this and conclude that an unemployment policy should not be our primary aim but rather an employment policy: that we should worry less about unemployment and focus all our attention and energy on the matter of employment. Such an approach may sound nice, but in the last analysis it is difficult to defend. The present report is rooted in the conviction that both employment and unemployment deserve our serious attention. Our aim should be not only a society in which everyone has an equal opportunity to integrate him or herself through work, but one which continues to seek the necessary means to limit the negative consequences of unemployment and marginalisation as far as possible.

Download article