Get Britain working? Continuity and change in Labour’s post-2024 welfare and employment strategy

Bennett, Hayley, Daguerre, Anne, Heins, Elke, Hughes, Ceri, King, Hannah, Magnus, Levana, Pearce, Sioned ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6906-1096 and Robertson, Ewan 2026. Get Britain working? Continuity and change in Labour’s post-2024 welfare and employment strategy. Social Policy and Society 10.1017/s1474746426101365

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Abstract

From manifesto pledges to election victory in 2024, the Labour Party has positioned ‘spiralling economic inactivity’ as the central employment and welfare challenge. This article critically examines Labour’s first year in power, with a focus on employment policies at the intersection of in-work poverty, economic insecurity, and inactivity. We begin by outlining the current labour market context, questioning the narrative underpinning Labour’s welfare reform agenda. We then analyse key policy shifts in social security and employment support, especially as they affect marginalised groups. This is followed by a review of Labour’s wider labour market strategy, including the Employment Rights Bill, Pathways to Work, Get Britain Working, and the significance of devolution. The article concludes by assessing the current direction of travel, and explores the tension between the structural roots of work insecurity and the incremental policy responses likely to leave the deeper labour market challenges across the UK largely intact.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Type: open-access
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISSN:	1474-7464
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	17 March 2026
Date of Acceptance:	12 January 2026
Last Modified:	17 Mar 2026 11:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/185805

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