Sunday 22 March 2009

New Labour’s Educational Policy since 1997
A new study by members and associates of the Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion at the London School of Economics has surveyed the evidence on the impact of policies towards poverty, inequality and social exclusion since the Labour Government was elected in 1997. The study suggests that the Government has taken poverty and social exclusion very seriously, marking a clear distinction from recent previous administrations. A wide range of the problems faced by Britain in the mid-1990s has been recognised, as has their multi-faceted and inter-linked nature. Poverty and social exclusion have been the subject of some of the Government’s most high-profile targets, particularly to cut and eventually 'eradicate' child poverty. Also to ensure since 10-20 years and no one is seriously disadvantaged by where they live. However, there are no targets for working-age poverty, for poverty of the population as a whole, or for overall inequality. There are vulnerable groups not covered by specific initiatives and in the case of asylum seekers, government policy has increased exclusion (in the terms applied to other groups). Where initiatives have been specifically evaluated the effects have mostly been positive, although not always very large. Child poverty has been reduced by the Labour Government’s tax and benefit reforms, and detailed analysis of family spending patterns suggests that the income changes for parents with children are having clear benefits. Overall, the impact of tax-benefit reform has been more progressive than an alternative policy of earnings-inking all benefit levels without reform would have been. But there are groups that have been left out. While poverty rates fell overall, those for working-age adults without children had reached record levels by 2002-03.
Its policy have been focused on education on a global market, view education and training as crucial for economic success. Schools have been encouraged to specialize in particular subjects. The aim has been to increase choice, encourage competition, raise standards and allow schools specialisms.
In 1997 New Labour inherited 196 specialist schools from the Conservatives. Ten years later there were about 2500 schools - it is about 80 per cent of all secondary schools in England.
Work-related learning. They continued commitment to the aim of improving the skills of the workforce in order for Britain to remain competitive in the global marketplace. The raising of the minimum age of full-time education (18), more options in providing vocational and education and training.
Competition and choice have continued to improve educational standards. New Labour has tried to increase opportunities. Also they have aim to increase the numbers in the high education .(not only upper and middle class but also and working class)
The changes in higher education reflect the overall pattern of their policies on education-opportunities have increased for everybody, but class inequalities remain stubbornly present.
Unemployment
Unemployment, people who are not in work but available to work, people who are looking for work, but claiming benefit-jobseekers allowance. There are different types of unemployment and it depends on the situation at the goods market.
Frictional unemployment-when a worker moves from one job to another. While he searches for a job he is experiencing frictional unemployment. This is a productive part of the economy, increasing both the worker's long term welfare and economic efficiency. It is a result of imperfect information in the labour market, because if job seekers knew that they would be employed for a particular job vacancy, almost no time would be lost in getting a new job, eliminating this form of unemployment.
Structural unemployment is caused by a mismatch between jobs offered by employers and potential workers. This may pertain to geographical location, skills, and many other factors. If such a mismatch exists, frictional unemployment is likely to be more significant as well.
Seasonal unemployment occurs when an occupation is not in demand at certain seasons.
Cycle unemployment Cyclical or Keynesian unemployment, also known as demand deficient unemployment, occurs when there is not enough aggregate demand in the economy. This is caused by a business cycle recession, and wages not falling to meet the equilibrium rate.
Government pay benefit for people who unemployment but for the part of time while person find work.
Supply -Side Policy
Supply-side policy is increase Aggregate Supply (AS) by improving the efficiency of labour and product markets. Supply -side policy always aim to increase AS, they never designed to reduce AS. And they should to increase real GDP, reduce unemployment, reduce inflation.
If Long-Run Aggregate Supply shift to the right the productive capacity of the economy has increased.
Example: Increase Quantity of Labour supply - introduce a minimum wage to encourage people to work, reduce income tax, reduce jobseekers allowance. OR education and training lead to increase productivity that is mean to increase quality of labour. Also to improve productivity of capital- it can be help to invest and develop new technology , eg give to firms some subsidy . Privatisation - increase efficiency in the allocation and utilisation of resources and also a major factor to cut down borrow by the government. Deregulation - to remove rules to make easier for companies to enter markets and become more efficient.

Friday 20 March 2009

Monetary policy
Monetary policy include Central Bank or Government decision on the rate of interest, the money supply,exchange rate. A high interest rate reduce consumption and lower firm's investment. But a higher exchange rate will make exports more expensive and imports-cheaper. A rise of inerest rate reduce consumption, investment and export minus import (decrease AD).
Expansionary Monetary Policy increases the size of the money supply, or decreases the interest rate, they do it to reduce unemployment, but it may increase inflation

Contractionary Monetray Policy raise interest rate, to rduce inflation ( but again may increase unemployment.)Monetary policy can be use to control inflation, Inflation is defined to increases in price levels.Contractionary monetary policy has the effect of reducing inflation by reducing upward pressure on price levels.Contractionary fiscal policy use to control inflation, because it involves spending cuts and tax increases.

Thursday 19 March 2009

Fiscal Policy

There are three economic policies that governments use to influence economic activity and to achieve their macroeconomic policy objective, and fiscal policy is one of the main policy.
Fiscal policy: the taxation and spending decision of a government, in order to influence Aggregate Demand (AD) and the level of economic activity.
AD is the total level of planned expenditure in an economy. AD=C+I+G+(X-M)
Government can raise AD by increasing its own spending and/or reducing taxation, eg increase government spending on transport, or at the areas of health or education, this will have multiplier effect, causing AD raising even further.
A cut in income tax will increase people’s disposable income, this will raise consumption. Lower corporation tax bring increase ability of firms to invest and in the result will be increase AD.
Expansionary FiscalPolicy:
Increase government spending and cut taxes. Lower taxes will increase consumers spending because they have more disposable income(C).This will worsen the governmentt budget deficit. they do it to increase AD and reduce unemployment. But it can lead to nflation and increase imports.
Contractionary fiscal policy:
Decreae government spending, increase tax-will reduce consumer spending,this will lead to an improvement in the government budget deficit.
But deflationary policy involves measure to reduce AD, it is cuts in government spending and/or rises in taxes.

Thursday 12 March 2009

Marxism

There are three main aim:
1 Education prepares children for the world for work by giving them skills and values they will need.
2 Education justifies inequality. Inequality is a structural in origin because it is fundamental to the economic system.
3 Education passes on rulling class ideolgy that supports capitalsm. A rulling class, if it is to continue in power, must ensure it reproducers itself over time. People have to be sociolised into acceprting the basic ideas of Capitalism. For the rulling class to maintain its economic domination, power and influence, it is vital that the education system reproduce:
a) the basic ideology of Capitalism
b) the economis domination of rulling class over time.
The educational process has appearance of fairness and merit, which means that success and failure can be rationalised as a failure of the individual rather than the system as a whole.

Althusser see education as a part of ideological stat apparatus. It is a tool of capitalism which as belief tha society is fair. And he thinks that education produces a doclie and obedient workforce.

Bowles and Gintis say that there is a close link between school and work, there is a correspondence between pupil experiences of school and adult work. Also pupils are taught to accept hierarchy at scholl, work also has a hierarchy. Pupils are motivated by grades to do boring work, workers are rewarded with pay to do boring work. The school day is broken into a small units , so is the work day. At school and work subservirence is rewarded.
They think that the hidden curriculam prepares people for work.
Willis says that education doesn't turn out an obedient workforce.
Bordieu use concept of culture capital ,to explain how the middle-class get into the top position.
Youth unemployment was the result of school’s failure to teach appropriate work skills. And this skills was to blame for Britain’s economic decline, at the result was aim to reduce youth unemployment, to increase people’s skill levels and make more aware of the world of work, and appeared vocationalism.
Vocationalism is a series of measures in the 1980s that reemphasized the importance of work-related education .
Vocation education and training have had many critics, particularly from neo-Marxist writers. Finn(1987) argues that there is a hidden political agenda to vocational training.
It provides cheap labour for employers, keeps the pay rates of young workers low.
It reduces political embarrassing unemployment statistics.
It may also be intended to reduce crime by removing young people from the streets.
Philip Cohen (1984) argue that the real purpose of vocational training is to create good attitudes and also work discipline rather than actual job skills. It is help young people come to accept a likely future low-paid and unskilled work. Youth unemployment it is not mean that they haven’t experience from part-time jobs, it is mean that people need in the vocational courses, to improve their knowledge and skills.

There are two main aims of vocational education and training:
First, to provide the training for a high wage and high skill economy, so the UK can compete successfully market in the world.
Second, to reduce unemployment, particularly for young people.

Part of the reason to change was to raise the status of vocational qualifications to the level of academic qualifications The aim of NVQs is to raise skill level in a wide range of jobs. In 1990s, was fastest growing job in hospitals and nursing homes.
Tony Blair claimed that it helped to young people find jobs, and also it helped others move into higher education.
Correspondence theory , it is a close correspondence between the social relationship in the classroom and those in the workplace.
Schools, like the wider society are based on the hierarchies. Pupils have little control over their work and future result depend only from pupils. Schools reward punctuality, obedience, hard work. Pupils should be motivated by educational qualifications, how workers are motivated by paying. Gintis argue that this correspondence between schools and workplace effectively reproduce workers from one generation to the next.

Tuesday 10 March 2009








Jan Flaherty holds on Economic and Social Research Council studentship and her research interests are poverty and discourse. She has worked as a research assistant for Professor Ruth Lister at Lough-borough University.


Educational disadvantages.
The links between poverty, social class and poor educational attainment are strong. They are evident before the primary school, increase throughout a child’s school career, reflected in different qualifications and rates of access to further education.
2002 59% of children receiving free school meals (FSM), 70% of those are not receiving free school meals (non-FSM)
Schools in the poorest areas have 10 to 25% of pupils achieving 5GSCE passes at grades A*-C ( because they are haven’t resources for this, some special guides, computers or private tutors)
Nearly 90% of ’failing schools’ are located in deprived areas.
A close link between truanting and child poverty. Money problems in the family were a significant factors in younger children’s non-attendance at school.
Children who grow up in poverty are more likely to leave school at age 16, factor is decrease the chance of receiving high-grades GSCEs
Lack of materials resources such as space to work, books, computers at home, money for equipment and trips were idmitified by professionals in education as key factors in children’s low performance.


Poverty can follow a child into adulthood, in habiting aspirations and leading to under-achievement and educational and employment disadvantage. As a result, plans to reduce child poverty need to tackle both the immediate and long-term effects of childhood deprivation.