The level and types of unemployment that existed in the UK in the post war decades. How successive UK governments adopted economic policies to reduce unemployment.

Essay by Fishes06University, Bachelor'sA-, October 2008

download word file, 8 pages 5.0

Higher National Certificate

Business & Finance

Module: Economic Environment

1849 words�

C O N T E N T S

Page 1 Contents

Page 2 1.0 Causes of Unemployment

Page 4 2.0 Types of Unemployment

Page 6 3.0 Economic Targets of the Government

Page 8 4.0 Classical and Keynesian Economics

Page 9 5.0 Conflict of Objectives

Page 10 6.0 Supply Side Policies

Page 11 Bibliography

Investigate the level and types of unemployment that existed in the UK in the post war decades. Explain how successive UK governments adopted economic policies to reduce unemployment, and why the resulting conflict of objectives helped to pave the way to a shift towards "supply side "policies.

Unemployment is usually defined by economists as: those who want a job, but who are not currently employed. During the post war eras in the UK many types of unemployment existed.

Causes of Unemployment

Between the years of 1921 - 1939 there was mass unemployment in the UK particularly around 1932 in the year of the great depression when 23% of the population was unemployed.

After the 2nd world war many believed the problem was solved.

During the war many women had been employed in arms and ammunitions factories which were no longer needed after the war and many industrial factories had been destroyed, coupled with everyone returning from war led to the high levels of unemployment remaining in the UK.

Throughout Europe there was widespread destruction after Word War II many buildings including homes and places of work had been destroyed by bombings.

The British economy was in a state of devastation. Huge amounts of money had been spent on the war and post war huge sums of money had to be spent rebuilding the country. At this time there was no European Union to help.

Recovery took...